India denies shift in stand on Pak terror role

Havana, Sep 17: India today denied that the decision to set up a joint anti-terrorism institutional mechanism with Pakistan amounted to a shift in its long-held stance on Islamabad's support to cross-border terrorism.

''Yes, it is new. We have not done this together before,'' Foreign Secretary-designate Shiv Shankar Menon told journalists hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf announced the decision yesterday in a Joint Statement after their first meeting in a year.

He also made it clear that it was agreement on this that made the rest of the Joint Statement, including the decision to resume the Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, possible.

''Terrorism is an issue that has to be addressed together,'' Mr Menon said in response to a series of queries on the suprise announcement.

Most of the questions related to how New Delhi could work with Pakistan after blaming it for years for terrorist attacks in India.

Mr Menon pointed out that India had Joint Working Groups on terrorism with as many as 23 countries and two regional groupings -- the EU and BIMSTEC.

He said details about the mechanism and how it would carry out its work would be decided by the two sides in the coming weeks.

''But there is a broad mandate,'' he pointed out. The Joint Statement said the mechanism would identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations.

Mr Menon, who is currently the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and will take over as Foreign Secretary on October 1, said there were elements in Pakistan connected to terrorist attacks in India.

At one level, India will do whatever it can within the country to prevent such incidents, he said.

According to him, the proposed mechanism would help tackle such elements in Pakistan.

Asked if the decision was consistent with the government's previous positions, especially the suggestions that Pakistani elements were involved in the July 11 blasts in Mumbai which claimed over 180 lives, Mr Menon said, ''It is not a change of stance.'' He went on to say that the government was still in the process of investigating the Mumbai blasts and was yet to come to any conclusion about who was behind them.

''We need to eliminate terrorism, whatever its source,'' Mr Menon said. ''Both governments have been trying to deal with it,'' he said.

''I would say we are making a new beginning. What we are trying to do is to deal with the situation,'' he said.

Mr Menon said the goals of the peace process with Pakistan remained what they were: to create an atmosphere free of violence, settle all issues bilaterally and build a relationship.

He said the two countries had been engaged in discussions on all issues between them since January, 2004, when the peace process was launched. As part of that process, both sides brought various ideas and concerns to the table, he said.

To another question, Mr Menon said Pakistan also faced a threat from terrorism. ''It is a threat to India also, has been for a long time. Both of us need to deal with it. There is a need to do it collectively and individually,'' he stressed. He said the joint mechanism would deal with such aspects.

''Now we will work it. Let us work it. I would not like to get ahead of ourselves,'' he said when asked how the mechanism would work.

In response to a query, Mr Menon said the meeting between Dr Singh and Gen Musharraf had lasted a little over an hour and it was unreasonable to expect them to solve all problems between the two sides in such a short time.

He said the two leaders had given directions to their Foreign Secretaries on the steps to be taken and these would be implemented.

Mr Menon also denied that today's statement negated the position on terrorism expressed in previous statements issued by the two countries.

He pointed out that the two leaders had in today's Joint Statement explicitly reiterated their commitments and determination to implement the Joint Statements of January, 2004, September, 2004, April, 2005 and September, 2005.

He also drew attention to the fact that the statement strongly condemned the Mumbai blasts.

''We had strong condemnation for the first time ever.

That is what made possible the resumption of the dialogue,'' he said.

He said the statement was also in consonance with Dr Singh's own remarks in the run-up to yesterday's meeting that the dialogue could not be resumed unless Pakistan ceased supporting cross-border terrorism against India.

Mr Menon said all issues related to terrorist incidents in India, including evidence of involvement of elements from across the border and absconding criminals would be discussed through the mechanism.

''We think this can be one forum where such issues can be addressed. We can bring all such issues and sit and discuss them,'' he felt.

He repeatedly stressed that terrorism was a multi-faceted problem that needed to be tackled at several levels and in a variety of ways. The mechanism was one such way, and did not exclude or preclude any other way, he said.

''We are learning to work with each other,'' he pointed out.

According to him, when the peace process started in January, both sides did not have much experience in negotiating the difficult issues that have plagued their ties for more than five decades.

''We have learnt to live and work with each other,'' he said.

Mr Menon felt the atmosphere between the two countries had changed for the better.

Additional Secretary (International Organisations) K C Singh explained briefly how the joint working groups on terror with other countries worked. He said there were regular meetings and exchange of views.

He said there was also sharing of intelligence, though the levels of sharing depended on the degree of confidence in each other.

Asked if the process could be stalled again by another major incident, like had happened after the Mumbai blasts, Mr Menon said, ''We are trying to prevent such incidents.'' He said terrorist attacks made it difficult for India to take the peace process forward, given the strong public opinion on such issues.

''We are trying to prevent such incidents. The goal remains to eliminate terrorism,'' he said. But he admitted there could be no guarantees that there would be no setbacks to the process.

''We are trying to eliminating the trust deficit between the two countries,'' he said.

Asked whether the mechanism was India's or Pakistan's idea, Mr Menon said, ''It is our idea now. It belongs to both of us.''

UNI

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