Sarabjit's death will cause setback to efforts to build ties with Pak: Khurshid

Nursing the "hurt" caused by the death of Sarabjit Singh, India says the incident will cause a "setback" to the efforts to build relations with Pakistan and that there will be a "pause" in the engagement with it.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India will have to have a "calibrated" approach towards Pakistan and work to ensure that its mindset vis-a-vis this country changes for the better.

In an interview to PTI, he said the incident involving 49-year-old Sarabjit, who was brutally assaulted in a Pakistani jail, had agitated common people of India and it will take time to overcome.

Regrettably, Sarabjit's death came just few months after another distressful incident in which Pakistani troops killed two Indian soldiers, including beheading one, in a cross-LoC attack in Jammu and Kashmir, he noted.

"It is unfortunate that it (Sarabjit's death) has happened. We can't tone down our feelings that have been expressed publicly by ordinary people. And obviously when you feel a sense of hurt and distress, it takes a little time to overcome," Khurshid said.

"What something like this does is that it causes a setback to the momentum of work you have done to bring about greater and more meaningful relationship. I think, obviously, the recent events will do the same," he said when asked whether the Indian prisoner's death would have an impact on India-Pakistan relations.