Islamabad: India and Pakistan have recognised that terror is the most significant issue between the two countries. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Thursday and told him that a sustained dialogue would be possible only if Pakistan cracked down on anti-India terror groups.
Sources told CNN-IBN that Krishna reminded Qureshi that Pakistan's top leadership had committed to crack down on anti-Indian terror and New Delhi was waiting for need tangible outcomes with Pakistan action on 26/11 and terror would be the biggest confidence building measure.
India also proposed more intelligence sharing and warned Islamabad that evidence of Pakistani state actors involved in plotting more attacks would cause real harm to the peace process. Krishna also demanded speeding up of the 26/11 trial in Pakistani and prosecution of masterminds and not foot soldiers of the attack.
Sources claimed that Qureshi promised more action on 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused. He said that Pakistan would have sustained exchange of information on the investigation and trial related to Mumbai attacks.
He told Krishna that India should recognise change in Pakistani public mood and environment against all terror groups. Qureshi also claimed that all Pakistani state actors including the legislature, political leadership and military were firmly behind the peace process.
Qureshi reportedly said that Pakistani Interior Ministry had been working on Indian Home Ministry information on 26/11 attacks and had been acting on terror in its own interest.
In an indication that there may be some headway, the two sides also decided to hold another round of discussions later on Thursday. The joint press conference scheduled on Thursday afternoon has now been postponed till later in the evening.
(With inputs from Suhasini Haider)
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