New Delhi ,Feb. 14: The Pune blast is unlikely to come in the way of the holding of foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, sources said here on Sunday.In spite of strong demands from the BJP to cancel the talks, the sources indicated that going ahead with such talks will help to better thrash out the issue of terrorism.
Asked about the prospect of holding talks with Pakistan after the Pune blast, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna told reporters in Chennai, “I am not going to talk about the talks right now. Let us wait for the report (of the investigative agencies) first.”Asked the same question in Pune, Union home minister P. Chidambaram said, “This matter (of Indo-Pak talks) will be considered in New Delhi.”The BJP questioned the necessity of resuming talks with Pakistan with senior party leader Arun Jaitley maintaining that “terror and talks cannot coexist”. “When terror threatens Indians, not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option,” Mr Jaitley noted. He said the BJP failed to understand what made the government change its policy and precondition of not holding dialogues with Pakistan as long as its soil was used for anti-India terror attacks.In a statement, the BJP said, “The recommencement of the dialogue with Pakistan irrespective of whether Pakistan stops allowing its soil for being used for terror against India has made utterances of Pakistani leaders and jihadi groups more belligerent.The BJP urges the government to reconsider both these steps, i.e. allowing persons from PoK to return and resuming the dialogue with Pakistan. Terror and talks cannot coexist.”In Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his government condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. “We want the region to be free from this menace. We want to have good relations with India. We want talks to be meaningful,” Mr Gilani was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
Age Correspondent with agency inputs