chief
Prime VIP
Pakistan expects the upcoming meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India next week to lead to a sustained engagement, but did not indicate if there were any prospects of returning to full-scale peace talks in the near future, the Foreign Office said here.
“Our expectations are that as a result of this meeting, our countries should get engaged in a sustained manner,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at a briefing.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 to further the dialogue process initiated after a meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad on June 24 to set the agenda for the ministerial meeting. They exchanged several proposals for building trust, but it was clear that New Delhi and Islamabad would take a long to overcome the mistrust that had deepened after the Mumbai terror strikes.
Basit told reporters that Pakistan would enter the upcoming talks with a positive mindset and with a hope that all issues would be discussed, as was agreed by the two Prime Ministers.
He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and its planners to justice.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are proceeding with a full sense of responsibility and sincerity. We would like that those who have committed the (Mumbai) crime be brought to justice.”
The spokesman said Pakistan anticipated that India would shun its fixation with Mumbai after the realisation that disengagement had served neither country.
“Our expectations are that as a result of this meeting, our countries should get engaged in a sustained manner,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at a briefing.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on July 15 to further the dialogue process initiated after a meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad on June 24 to set the agenda for the ministerial meeting. They exchanged several proposals for building trust, but it was clear that New Delhi and Islamabad would take a long to overcome the mistrust that had deepened after the Mumbai terror strikes.
Basit told reporters that Pakistan would enter the upcoming talks with a positive mindset and with a hope that all issues would be discussed, as was agreed by the two Prime Ministers.
He reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and its planners to justice.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, we are proceeding with a full sense of responsibility and sincerity. We would like that those who have committed the (Mumbai) crime be brought to justice.”
The spokesman said Pakistan anticipated that India would shun its fixation with Mumbai after the realisation that disengagement had served neither country.
