India ready for ‘step by step’ approach with Pak

“There might be some apprehensions in Pakistan that India is not willing to discuss all outstanding issues but I want to say that India is willing to discuss all the issues that make our relationship very difficult and strain our relationship,” he said.

The Minister said while referring to reports suggesting that India was not willing to discuss all the outstanding issues between the two nations during the proposed India visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the first quarter this year.

Krishna said problems between the two countries have existed for over 60 years and can’t be resolved in one or two meetings between the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers.

“That is exactly why I took up the matter when I met Foreign Minister Qureshi telling him that a step by step graduated,forward-looking approach needs to be taken to discuss the issues,” the Minister added.

The minister listed issues like poverty,health,education and infrastructure development as some of the prime needs of both the countries.

“India and Pakistan can push some of the difference we have on the back burner and then advance so that we could concentrate on our developmental agenda. But for that trust is needed to be in place.”

Saying that India desired friendly relations with Pakistan,the Minister said for such a relationship to exist,it was required that “adversarial” mindsets of the two sides change. “Let me assure that India has come out of it (adversarial mindset)… the biggest problem in two countries is deficit of trust and the the Foreign Ministers were mandated by the Prime Ministers to bridge that trust deficit,”

he added.

Commenting on his Islamabad visit last year,he said all the issues of common interest were discussed between the two countries which was “though viewed differently by the media but I came back fully-satisfied.”

Referring to the Mumbai attacks,the Minister said the issue of terror has inflicted substantial damage to the dialogue process initiated between the countries in 2004 as the incident had pushed this process back. “We are a democracy. We can’t afford to remain oblivious to the outrage in our country and its people. We were assured at the highest level that Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used by elements hostile to India,” he said.

Krishna said for the first few days,the identity of the individuals involved in the attacks was not known but India was “shocked” to know that they were all Pakistani nationals.