Indo-Pak dialogue a way forward: Rao

Ahead of the 16th SAARC summit in Bhutan to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani, India on Thursday stressed the need of dialogue between the two countries.

“As of now there is no meeting… Dialogue represents a concrete method to move forward in our relationship,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.

Some officials, however, recalled the July 2009 Sharm el-Sheikh meeting between Gilani and Singh on the sidelines of the NAM summit, organised without any prior invitation, to believe that the meeting was on the cards.

“I don’t want to forecast... Dialogue clears the atmosphere especially between the neighbours. Dialogue is always the way forward”, Rao said.

“The situation (since the February 25 foreign secretary-level talks) has not really changed. We need action in terms of movement on the Mumbai terror attacks,” Rao said.

She also said Pakistan was yet to give any feedback on the three dossiers that India handed over in February.

The SAARC summit will be on April 28-29, with climate change as its theme.

First Published: Apr 22, 2010 23:19 IST