With peace on LoC, Delhi to take one step at a time

Noting that the situation along across the LoC has improved substantially, India on Monday called for a “sensible” next move in the peace process with Pak that is under strain. HT reports.

Noting that the situation along across the Line of Control (LoC) has improved substantially, India on Monday called for a “sensible” next move in the peace process with Pakistan that is under strain.

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“It is important that we let a little time go by so that the dust as it were settles, and then in a sensible and a calibrated manner one can move forward. For the present I believe the situation looks a lot better than it did a few days ago,” external affairs minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in New Delhi.

He was asked to comment on the reported statement of Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir on the killing of soldiers on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir a “domestic issue.”

"I would just simply say that we should not necessarily react to every statement. I do not think that every statement made in domestic context should necessarily be treated as the last word," Khurshid told reporters.On Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar's for minister-level talks to reduce tensions, Khurshid said the media statement cannot be described as an offer. "Well clearly it can't be described as an offer. I think there were suggestions on how to move forward and the possibility that it could be done one way or the other. And of course the suggestion came through the media," he said.

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“The fact is that things have been quiet on the Line of Control. The fact that our DGMOs (Directors-General of Military Operations) have been in touch in a meaningful way, I would think that this is a welcome shift in the right direction,” he added.