Foreign Secretary (FS) S Jaishankar has linked the FS-level talks between India and Pakistan with action taken by Pakistan against perpetrators of Pathankot airbase terror attack.
Speaking at a session of the Raisina Dialogue, he said while Governments of both countries are in constant touch on the issue, India will give priority to action on ground against terror compared to diplomatic talks.
“In the aftermath of a terror attack, if you ask me what you give priority to, a terrorist attack or a diplomatic dialogue, I think the answer should be obvious,” Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue — India’s flagship international dialogue on geo-economics and geo-politics.
The FS talks were postponed after Pathankot attack as India felt the atmosphere was no conducive to start a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue at a time when people were being killed by terrorists operating from Pakistan soil.
Jaishankar added that “parallel processes” are at works and both countries were in constant touch with each other following the Pathankot attack, primarily at the level of National Security Advisers (NSA) and to some extent between the two FS.
Incidentally, Sartaj Aziz, foreign policy adviser to Pakistan PM, said in Washington that Pakistan is “anxiously waiting” for the FS-level talks and urged India not to give non-state actors “a veto” over bilateral ties.
In his response to India-Pakistan ties in the present scenario, Jaishankar said India was for a much more modern relationship with Islamabad but for that to happen there was a need to have change in attitude towards a number of issues of which terrorism is a central one.
He conceded that in today’s geo-politics India and Pakistan should not remain isolated adding New Delhi has been making sincere efforts to improve the ties but “it takes two hands to clap”.
“Most people in this country want to treat Pakistan as a normal neighbour. So we would like to do with Pakistan what we do with everybody else. But the fact is that there are obstacles and we know what the obstacles are,” Jaishankar said.
He also underlined the need for better connectivity between India and Pakistan. Speaking about India’s approach to Asian connectivity, Jaishankar said connectivity should “defuse” national rivalries and not add to regional tensions.