New Delhi, Feb. 11: Defence minister A.K. Antony on Thursday said the Indian government was willing to resume negotiations with Pakistan despite not being fully satisfied by Pakistan’s anti-terror efforts since "Indo-Pak relations always have a huge bearing on regional peace and security".
Pointing out that "there is no attempt on the part of the government of Pakistan to dismantle terrorist outfits (operating from Pakistani or Pakistan-controlled soil)", Mr Antony, however, said this would not affect "our considered decision to start negotiations with Pakistan". The minister said that "almost all the 42 terrorist outfits operating from across the border ... are intact", adding that there seemed to be a "calculated policy" behind the increase in infiltration attempts this year (from across the border into J&K).
When asked why then the government had offered resumption of talks with Pakistan, Mr Antony said, "We feel even though we are not fully satisfied by the actions taken by the government of Pakistan because still they are not taking any action against terror outfits, but at the same time we find that they have taken some action as per our wish. India has taken a conscious decision (on offering resumption of talks) after seeing that there is some signs of taking action from the government of Pakistan. We took a conscious decision to take the initiative from our side."
On China, the minister said, "We (India) are carrying out continuous appraisals of its (Chinese) military capabilities." He added that India is only seeking to "build an effective deterrent capability to safeguard ourselves" and that Sunday’s successful test of the (nuclear-capable ballistic missile) Agni-III (capable of hitting targets well within China with a range of 3,500 km) is "not aimed against any particular nation".
Delivering his presidential address at the Asian Security Conference in the national capital on Thursday, the minister revealed that India had last year completed the process of destroying its chemical weapons.
Age Correspondent