Pak pushes for PM visit,India will not commit

Pakistani political leaders from across the spectrum have told Krishna over the last two days about their country’s eagerness to host Singh. New Delhi,however,feels that Islamabad is keen about the visit as it would send signals negating Pakistan’s isolation in the international community.

“The Prime Minister has never put any conditions,the visit will take place at an appropriate time,when the time is ripe and it is worthwhile,” Krishna said at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart,Hina Rabbani Khar. The Prime Minister’s visit depends on his calendar,needs a lot of preparation and cannot be decided in a jiffy,he added.

Khar,who had said Friday that India needs to be “unemotional” about the Mumbai attack,did not mention India’s key concern of “terrorism” even once during her opening statement. “We should not hold our relations hostage to history,” she said,once again indicating that the neighbours needed to move on from 26/11.

Krishna seemed to concur with her when he said “let us not look back and be held hostage”. But he later clarified that “history is about the vast wars we have fought…but what has happened in the immediate past in the last three years,there is no question of bypassing Mumbai”.

When his attention was drawn towards Khar not mentioning terrorism in her remarks,Krishna pointed out to the joint statement where the issue has been addressed and agreed by both sides. On Mumbai,the statement said that the ministers “noted the commitment given by Pakistan during the Interior/ Home Secretary talks in May 2012 to bring all the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice expeditiously in accordance with due process of law.” Indian sources pointed out that this is a strong reiteration of Pakistan’s commitment.

They also included a separate paragraph on the Samjhauta Express bombing in a bid to delink that attack and 26/11,Indian sources said,as Pakistan mentions both in the same breath. In the case of the Samjhauta attack,the statement said that the ministers noted that during the Interior/ Home Secretary talks in May 2012,the Indian side had conveyed that the investigation in the Samjhauta Express blast case is still ongoing and updated information will be shared with the Pakistan authorities,through diplomatic channels when the investigation is completed.

Earlier,after he signed the visa agreement with Krishna,Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced Zardari’s decision to free all Indian fishermen in Pakistani custody. Krishna responded by asking Islamabad to release the boats and trawlers of these fishermen as well. With the visa agreement inked,the two sides — expecting a surge in business travel — expressed satisfaction at the progress in normalizing bilateral trade and commercial relations.

“The ministers firmly reiterated that both sides will scrupulously adhere to the roadmap drawn up by the two Commerce Ministries for full normalization of trade relations,” the joint statement said. The two sides also decided that travel across the Line of Control would be expanded to include visits for tourism and religious pilgrimage. Both sides will facilitate speedy clearance of applications for travel across the LoC. “The process time should not be more than 45 days,” the statement said.