Pakistan certainly thumbed its nose at India after giving a clean chit to the most-wanted terrorist Hafeez Saeed. But, New Delhi is veering around to resume talks with Islamabad, after they were suspended following 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Some talks will probably start soon with Pakistan possibly before the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India which is likely in the first week of July as it is unavoidable that US doesn’t try to nudge India to the negotiable table, and it would be better to have the talks without any pressure from a different country.
The new external affairs minister, S. M. Krishna is quoted to have said, “Never negotiate out of fear, but never fear to negotiate.” Following his words, New Delhi would like to retain the initiative by starting with the talks.
Two reasons India would like to begin the talks are, firstly, it might get Pakistan to at least attempt to stop the next big-ticket terrorist attack against India and, secondly, US, waiting for the elections in India to get over will soon raise the talks issue with India. In fact, it would soon come into play just after Hillary Clinton’s visit to India in July.
Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh might have an occasion to break the ice if he decides to go for the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow later this month. If the PM attends the SCO, he would have a chance to meet his Pakistan counter-part and could seize the opportunity to begin the talks.
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