India to start peace talks with 'open mind'

Though India will raise concerns about cross-border terrorism during the high-level meetings between External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and the top Pakistani leadership, including President Pervez Musharraf , it is hoping to forge the dialogue “with an open mind and positive framework.”

As investigations into the Jaipur blasts are still underway, India doesn’t want to “pre-judge” the situation, say sources, adding that it logical to assume that the perpetrators of the terror acts would want the talks between the two countries to be marred. “We don’t want to lend victory to forces, which are aiming at derailing the peace process between the two countries,” a source said. However, dates for the next meeting of the India-Pakistan anti-terror mechanism are expected to set during the bilateral meetings.

Ahead of the talks, meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, said on Sunday, “The dialogue process has contributed meaningfully to the improvement of relations over the last four years. India is ready to carry the process forward.”

External Affairs ministry sources said the two countries are aiming at a “bigger economic relationship”, as has been evident from recent statements made by Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Zardari, the man who has the keys to the present Pakistan government. The meeting will discuss the issues of “economic cooperation” between the two countries.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir, will mainly focus on “peace and security” and “Jammu and Kashmir” as a part of the review of the fourth round of composite dialogue between the two countries. The meeting between Menon and Bashir, where both sides will begin by “picking up the threads”, will take place in Islamabad on May 20.

Sources said the bilateral talks will be more of a familiarization exercise for the India side, where the Indian delegation will be “keen to know the views” of the newly-elected three-month-old Pakistan government on all the key issues, which are being discussed under the “composite dialogue” process.

India will raise “all concerns” during the Indo-Pak talks, the MEA sources said, with regard to all eight issues, which include Siachen and Sir Creek. “And then, we will see what the Pakistan leaders have to say,” the source said.