New Delhi, Feb. 25: The marathon three-hour-long talks between foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and Pakistan’s Salman Bashir here on Thursday were described as "cordial", but Mr Bashir’s press conference subsequently degenerated into rhetoric, putting a question mark on Islamab-ad’s sincerity.
The Pakistan foreign secretary’s attempts at grandstanding and scoring brownie points was met with a terse rejoinder from New Delhi, which promptly responded by saying that while it was of the firm conviction that it must not shut the door on dialogue, it was not desperate either to continue talks with Pakistan.
The provocation came after Mr Bashir, in his separate interaction with the media, said the dossiers given by India so far, detailing the role of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and others responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, were more like "literature" than "evidence in the legal sense".
He also noted that Pakistan did not like to be "lectured" or sermonised on terrorism as it was a victim in its own right.
From his responses to the questions at the press conference, it was evident that Pakistan was in no hurry to give India any satisfaction on the issue of matters related to the Mumbai attacks.
Mr Bashir advised India not to spend all its energies discussing only the Mumbai attacks or individuals such as Hafiz Saeed. He noted that Pakistan could in the same way bring up similar issues about India’s activities in Afghanistan.
Seeking to refute Mr Bashir’s suggestion that Pakistan had photographic evidence that India was instigating terrorist activities against Pakistan from Afghanistan, sources here
said his statement was "propagandist" in nature as "not a shred of evidence" was shared with India.
Sources clarified that India did not believe in interfering in any country’s internal affairs or in destabilising Pakistan.
Such was the acrimony between the two sides towards the end of what was described as useful talks that New Delhi went as far as to note that while its delegation got its brief for the talks from a democratic government, Mr Bashir and his entourage were following instructions from "GHQ", or the Pakistan Army headquarters.
Earlier in the day, in her briefing to the media, Ms Nirupama Rao maintained that the time was not ripe for the resumption of the composite dialogue process.
She said three new dossiers were given to the Pakistan side, one of which highlights the role of a serving Pakistani Army officer in the Mumbai attacks.
India also strongly brought up the case of Pakistan not dealing with Hafiz Saeed under its own domestic anti-terror laws and that this is a matter of serious concern for New Delhi.
"In line with our graduated and step-by-step approach, our aims were modest; we had a useful discussion, during which I spelt out forthrightly our concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan against India," Ms Rao said.
Sources said a substantial portion of the talks was devoted to the issue of terrorism. India also raised the issues of infiltration and ceasefire violations across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and also the international border.
For its part, the Pakistan delegation raised the issues of Kashmir, Balochistan and the sharing of river waters. Pakistan sought the resumption of the composite dialogue process, with Mr Bashir saying that his country did not believe in "cosmetic" engagement with India.
He also asked India not to be "dismissive" of Kashmir, maintaining that "Pakistan will continue to support politically, diplomatically and morally the struggle of Kashmiri people."
The foreign secretaries have agreed to remain in touch but the future trajectory of bilateral dialogue, especially the possibility of meetings between their leaders, remains mired in uncertainty.
Ramesh Ramachandran