Qureshi to meet Krishna if India accepts agenda
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has indicated he will meet his Indian counterpart, S.M. Krishna, if the latter is prepared to consider a road map that would look to resuming all the issues that made up the composite dialogue and not focus solely on terrorism.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has indicated he will meet his Indian counterpart, S.M. Krishna, if the latter is prepared to consider a road map that would look to resuming all the issues that made up the composite dialogue and not focus solely on terrorism.
“The issues that Pakistan is keen to resume talking on include Siachen, water issues and Sir Creek,” said a Pakistani foreign office source in Islamabad.
Qureshi had told media in New York on Monday that he had sent “suggestions” to New Delhi regarding the agenda of possible talks between him and Krishna. A “positive response” to those suggestions could lead to talks being held “immediately,” he said.
Qureshi told the Pakistani media, “We can meet anytime before I leave for Pakistan.”
The Indian delegation in New York said they had no idea what these fresh proposals were, but indicated talks between the two foreign ministers looked unlikely.
Qureshi said talks between India and Pakistan should be meaningful and were essential as the situation in “occupied Kashmir” worsened.
He also said India needed to change its “tactics” in dealing with Kashmiris, that New Delhi couldn’t treat Kashmir as a purely internal issue.
India officials said they would not allow a focus on Kashmir to deflect attention from concerns over Islamabad’s lack of action against terrorism emanating from its territory and directed at India.
The two ministers have yet to meet in New York, other than a chance encounter in the parking lot of the UN which was described as brief, warm and the conversation largely about Pakistan’s floods.