'The Indian side -- S M Krishna, Nirupama Rao and Sharat Sabharwal -- was the picture of tranquillity, poise and perseverance. Krishna spoke in measured tones, but firmly and convincingly. Except for failing to defend the home secretary, Krishna's performance was faultless.'
After making carping comments on his talks with S M Krishna, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said he never stated that his Indian counterpart was on the phone with New Delhi during their parleys on Thursday.
'There are difficulties and we need to find a way to handle them,' Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, adding 'we are ready to engage, we are ready to negotiate any time, anywhere and we are not in a hurry. We will wait till they are ready.'
Pakistan's leading newspapers have lamented that the Indo-Pak foreign ministerial-level talks have produced nothing but a promise for more talks.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday regretted that Home Secretary G K Pillai was not 'defended' by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna when he was 'openly castigated' by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for his remarks that the Inter Services Intelligence had coordinated the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
India [ Images ] secured an assurance from Pakistan on Thursday that it would act on the leads given by Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley to unravel the conspiracy behind the Mumbai terror attacks even as the two countries agreed to continue their dialogue.
The major thrust of the meeting is on anti-India terrorism that continues to emanate from Pakistan.
The trouble is that trying anything more than the routine CBMs to affect a paradigm change in the bilateral relationship is a bit of a catch-22 situation: without trust, bold initiatives are not possible; but how do you build trust without bold initiatives, writes Sushant Sareen.
Dismissing Pakistan's allegation that India was involved in the recent attack on the Federal Investigation Bureau building in Lahore, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said it was "most unthinkable" and a "falsehood" that was being spread.
When Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visits Pakistan on July 15, he would be taking the next step on the road to reducing the trust deficit between India and its terror-vexed neighbour.
The Pakistan government has trashed former president Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula to resolve Kashmir issue, saying it was "his thinking" which did not have the endorsement of Pakistan Parliament or Cabinet and suggested a fresh approach to address the vexed problem.
As he prepares to meet External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in July, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said 'nothing dramatic' should be expected from 'one sitting' and emphasised that the dialogue process should be made 'irreversible'.Qureshi, who along with Krishna has been tasked to bridge the trust deficit, said mutual suspicions were the main reason for the trust gap and the two countries should work towards removing those.
Taking a serious note of the killing of two Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, India on Tuesday told Colombo that the use of force against them should not be repeated and asked it to take a decision that will not upset bilateral ties. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna also directed Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to convene a meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on the issue around February 15 to discuss the issue.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Friday called on External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed relations between the two estranged neighbours. Bashir, who was in New Delhi for talks with his counterpart Nirupama Rao, spent approximately an hour talking to Krishna.They are understood to have taken stock of the bilateral relations and reviewed the discussions that were held between the two foreign secretaries on Thursday.
Krishna, during an interaction with a group of journalists, noted that like in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, the maharaja of Mysore had also signed an accession treaty "and I am a citizen of Mysore"
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday addressed senior defence commanders in New Delhi in the wake of a deteriorating security scenario in the South Asian region, especially in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Sheela Bhatt analyses India's election to the UNSC after 19 years.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has agreed to come here and India is looking forward to the visit during which the two sides will try to reduce differences, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in New Delhi on Tuesday. The minister said India has been trying to build cordial relations with Pakistan and hoped for "reciprocity" of these efforts.
Pakistan on Wednesday voiced concern over External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's remarks -- that next week's Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks should not be 'mistaken' for resumption of composite dialogue -- saying "the outcome of the meeting should not be prejudged nor its scope circumscribed". "We have noted with concern remarks attributed by the media to India's External Affairs Minister on the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Secretaries," Pak said.
The Cabinet Committee on Security today took stock of the situation arising out of the Pune bomb blast and is understood to have discussed issues related to the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan.
"India has consistently articulated its desire to play a more constructive and meaningful role as an observer at the SCO," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said, addressing the 10th summit of the forum in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
The post-mortem on the United States-India Strategic Dialogue co-chaired by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna -- which also had the icing on the cake of President Barack Obama attending and delivering remarks at Clinton's reception for Krishna and the Indian delegation at the conclusion of the talks, where he pledged his unequivocal commitment to further US-India ties -- in the eyes of South Asia experts in Washington, DC, was mix
Their talks in New York might not have materialised, but External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has invited his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi to visit India to witness the Commonwealth Games.
The irritants that have cropped up in recent weeks in relations between India and the United States figured in the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of the 65th United Nations General Assembly sessions in New York. But a senior US official said the 'superb cooperation and goodwill' between Washington and New Delhi would eclipse these hiccups and would not be a dampener on President Obama's visit.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, while briefing reporters on the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the issue of direct and complete access to Pakistani American and Lashkar operative David Coleman had not come up at all at these talks.
While India has indicated that it may restart the foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan, Islamabad maintains that it would accept nothing short of resumption of comprehensive 'composite dialogue' with New Delhi.
As attacks against Indians continued unabated in Australia, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith for the second time in two days and is understood to have conveyed displeasure over the assaults on Thursday.
Cautioning that no part of the world could claim to be immune from terrorism, India on Wednesday pressed for early adoption of a proposed convention to fight the menace pending at the United Nations, saying it could materialise if the international community showed political will.
The London Conference on Afghanistan will be an occasion which India could use to showcase its massive humanitarian efforts in war-ravaged countries, which many diplomats believe is "undervalued" and little understood by the international community. India is providing US $ 1.3 billion in aid to improve infrastructure, education and medical health of the beleaguered country.
Talking tough, India asked Australia to put in more effective security measures to check the attacks on Indians there, failing which it said the people-to-people exchanges which includes those going for education and tourism will get "adversely" affected.
Vijaypat Singhania to be sworn-in as sheriff of Mumbai
India said onTuesday that all issues, including India's concerns over terrorism, will be discussed during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in July. "No issues are to be kept aside," Krishna told journalists accompanying him on his three-day visit to Kazakhstan.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will visit Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to work out the modalities for carrying forward the dialogue process to discuss outstanding issues in an atmosphere of mutual trust.
India said on Tuesday that China had been showing "more than the normal interest" in the Indian Ocean affairs and its "intentions" are being closely monitored.
India on Tuesday announced an additional $ 20 million assistance to Pakistan which is grappling with the worst floods in recent history of the region.
India can remain aloof only at its own peril to the challenges and opportunities presented by China's rapid ascendancy, Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Thursday.
Contending that the relations with Pakistan had undergone 'transformation," India on Thursday said it had decided to have dialogue after assurance at the level of Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani that India's 'core concern' with regard to terrorism would be addressed adequately.
India has said the arrest of Pakistan-origin national in the failed terror attack in New York vindicated its oft-repeated stand that Pakistan is the epicentre of terror activities.
Krishna said whether it was a racist attack or motivated by something else "the fact of the matter is that an Indian student has been murdered and the Australian government is duty bound and morally bound to go for investigations and then bring the culprit to book".
Noting that India is yet to see Pakistan take effective steps to end infiltration and dismantle terror infrastructure, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Monday that a "meaningful dialogue" cannot be possible till Islamabad implements its commitments on these counts.
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