As it prepares to receive Home Minister P Chidambaram later this month, Pakistan today said it wanted to know from him as to what India wants to be done on the terrorism front so that relations could normalise.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said if the two countries are able to end trust deficit and improve relations, it would have a spin-off effect on a number of activities, including trade and tourism. "In my view, both countries have suffered on account of terrorism. In my view, both countries should engage to deal with this issue of terrorism. We can do it collectively in a more effective manner," he told PTI in an interview in Istanbul.
"I am happy to learn that the Indian Home Minister will be visiting Pakistan on June 26 and I am sure he will discuss these issues with his counterpart (Rahman Malik)," said Qureshi, who was in Istanbul to attend the Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA).
Chidambaram will be travelling to Islamabad for SAARC Interior Ministers' meeting and during his stay there, he is expected to have bilateral meetings with some Pakistani leaders. Qureshi said if he gets an "opportunity" of talking to Chidambaram, "I would like to understand what India would want from Pakistan and I want to explain to him what steps Pakistan has done to take on terrorists. How we have effectively carried out operations against various terrorist organisations."
{{/usCountry}}Chidambaram will be travelling to Islamabad for SAARC Interior Ministers' meeting and during his stay there, he is expected to have bilateral meetings with some Pakistani leaders. Qureshi said if he gets an "opportunity" of talking to Chidambaram, "I would like to understand what India would want from Pakistan and I want to explain to him what steps Pakistan has done to take on terrorists. How we have effectively carried out operations against various terrorist organisations."
{{/usCountry}}He said the two countries should engage in exchanging informations to build confidence. "I think exchanging of information will also build confidence, understanding each others point of view, will also clear the air on issues," he added. Qureshi said if the two countries "start pointing fingers at each other, who gains, neither India nor Pakistan. The net beneficiary of our disengagement, in fact, are the terrorists. So we should not fall in their trap." He said the two countries should discuss how they could help each other to overcome the menace of terrorism.