Terror, early end to Mumbai attack trial in Pak India's core concerns

Setting the tone for the Foreign Minister-level Indo-Pak talks in Islamabad, India today made it clear that terrorism and early conclusion of of Mumbai terror attack trial in Pakistan remains "core concern" for it.

"All issues are going to be discussed...Terrorism is certainly a core concern to us. Mumbai (26/11 trial) is a core concern to us," highly-placed sources said when asked about the agenda of the meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Saturday in Islamabad.

However, they were not very forthcoming on whether Krishna will carry any evidence of the Home Ministry's assertion that most of the recent hate masseges spread through web and SMSes besides any other proof on the revelations made by LeT terrorist Abu Jundal on Pakistan's involvement in 26/11 attacks.

The issue of Jundal has already been raised by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai during talks with his counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani here in July, they said.

The parleys, which is a review meeting for the second round of talks which included discussion on contentious issues such as Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Creek and Siachen, will also be preceded by Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) meeting which is taking place after a gap of nearly seven years.

The JCM is headed by the Ministers of the two countries and consists of eight technical groups, mostly relating to trade and economy.

The Commission was revived in 2005 after a gap of 16 years.
Replying to a query on the possibility of terrorism issue taking a backseat in light of fast progress in trade relations between the two countries, the sources said if there is "rapid and faster" progress in one area, it does "not mean we are ignoring the other".

Asked if the much-awaited new visa agreement will be signed between the two countries during this visit, sources said India hopes it will be signed as early as possible.
The visa agreement was supposed to be signed during the Home-Interior Secretaries level talks held in May in Pakistan.

"We were ready in May and we are ready now," a source said.

The new relaxed visa regime will, for the first time, include group tourist visa, visa on arrival for senior citizens and children and year-long multiple-entry and multi- city visa for businessmen.

On the issue of possible sale of electricity to Pakistan, sources maintained that the proposal is still being studied at the technical level.

There have been technical-level talks on the possibility of sale of power, a source said adding the proposal and the difficulties are still being studied.

"Our grids are not even connected. There are no transmission lines between India and Pakistan," the source added.

Sources also said the issue of Siachen might come up during the bilateral talks but said it might not be a very detailed one.

Asked further on the Siachen issue, the sources said both sides are still trying, at Defence
Secretary-level talks, how to narrow down the differences and increase the convergence on all outstanding issues.

"Our primary issue is that actual ground position should be authenticated. There is a step-by-step approach which we have suggested to Pakistan," a source said.

Asked if the issue of Pakistani Hindus is likely to be raised during the visit,
The sources did not clearly state if the issue will be raised or not and said they would not know since there is no fixed agenda for talks when two Ministers meet.
However, India has already made its position clear, they added.

This will be the second visit of Krishna to Pakistan since 2010. He will meet his counterpart on September 8 which will be preceded by a meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on September 7.

The two ministers will also co-chair the JCM.  The Joint Commission was established in March 1983 and both countries have decided that it will not be a substitute for dialogue.

The eight technical-level working groups of the Joint Commission focuses on areas such as agriculture, health, science and technology, information, environment, tourism, education and IT and telecom.

Meanwhile, Krishna will also travel to Lahore and visit Minar-e-Pakistan in commemoration of the Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League for a separate Pakistan.

Krishna is also expected to call on Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. He is also likely to meet the Punjab Chief Minister and some other Pakistani political leaders.