External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday the recent incidents on the Line of Control are unwelcome and extremely upsetting and not conducive to the normalisation of ties with Pakistan.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Saturday the recent incidents on the Line of Control are “unwelcome and extremely upsetting” and not conducive to the normalisation of ties with Pakistan.
He said everyone was expecting political dialogue with Pakistan. “But I must make it clear that we have not reached a stage where we could resume talks.”
“While the two prime ministers met in New York (last month), we have not reached a stage where we have indicated any dates, timeline or perspective on the resumed dialogue… But whether and when the political level dialogue will take place, that is yet not clear,” he told reporters while returning from Jakarta with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after a bilateral visit.
He was responding to questions on whether recent incidents on the Line of Control have impacted the dialogue process.
“As far as the incidents at the LoC and border are concerned, they are upsetting. The army is dealing with it and the defence minister is dealing with it, but I can’t say it is conducive to a faster movement in normalisation,” he said.
Khurshid said there were routine things continuing between India and Pakistan and these “will continue”.
“This (political dialogue) is something our leaders will work out in due course,” he said, in response to a question from accompanying journalists.
At the same time, he reminded the journalists that general elections are just months ahead, and that had to be taken into account when one talks about dialogue with Pakistan.
He said the meeting of the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) has not taken place.
Five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack by Pakistani troops on the LoC in August. The Indian Army conducted a 15-day operation in Keran sector of the LoC to flush out terrorists who infiltrated into Indian territory allegedly with the backing of Pakistani forces.
-IANS
