‘Pakistan should stop terror to build confidence’

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said the only option for Pakistan to bridge the “trust deficit” with India.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Thursday said the only option for Pakistan to bridge the “trust deficit” with India is to take effective steps to stop terror emanating from its soil. “The biggest confidence building measure will be that Pakistan stops any further terror attacks from its soil and stops the speeches made against India by jihadists,” Krishna said while replying to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha.

“Terror is our core concern when we have talks with our counterparts in Pakistan,” he said.

Reacting to Bharatiya Janata Party member Prakash Javdekar’s remark that the dialogues with Pakistan were meaningless, the minister asked him to “suggest a viable option instead of dialogue”.

“There were uninterrupted dialogues between India and Pakistan from 2004 till the (2008) Mumbai terror attack. Mumbai attack was a point where we had to discontinue the dialogue with Pakistan,” he said. He said in the meeting between the prime ministers from the two countries during the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit in Bhutan in April, a decision was taken to rebuild trust.

“They identified that there was a trust deficit. It was decided that it will be done (bridged) by meeting at the secretary and minister level. We are trying to fulfil that mandate,” Krishna said.

Expressing dissatisfaction over Pakistan’s attitude in bringing to book the culprits of the Mumbai attack, Krishna accused Pakistan of having a subjective approach towards Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

“Whenever we mention Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, whom we consider the mastermind of the Mumbai attack, Pakistan becomes subjective. We certainly would like Pakistan to be helpful so that we can live in peace,” he said.

The minister added that India wants a peaceful Pakistan as this will bring peace to the entire region. HINDUSTAN TIMES

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2010.