Pakistan has sought resumption of dialogue: India

Ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Egypt next week, India Wednesday said Pakistan has sought the resumption of talks but indicated any decision will depend on Islamabad's action against terrorists.

"Yes," External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told parliament when asked whther the Pakistani govrnment has sought the resumption of composite dialogue that stalled after the Mumbai attacks.

Krishna confirmed the decision by Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Yekaterinburg last month to depute their foreign secretaries to review Islamabad's action against anti-India terrorist outfits.

Manmohan Singh "conveyed India's expectation that the government of Pakistan will honor its commitments to take strong and effective action to prevent the use of Pakistani territory for terrorist attacks on India," Krishna replied when asked if any dates have been set for holding the talks.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Salman Basheer in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt July 14 for a review of Islamabad’s action against anti-India terrorism directed from its soil.

The foreign secretaries’ review will set the stage for the meeting between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Any decision on the resumption of dialogue will depend on the review by the foreign secretaries which will determine the tone of the talks between Manmohan Singh and Gilani at the Red Sea resort July 16.

Last updated on Jul 8^th, 2009 at 23:13 pm IST--IANS