India asks Pakistan to curb cross-border terror

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) India today sought to allay Pakistan's fears that it wanted to undo partition and asked Islamabad to do much more to curb cross-border terrorism which continued despite fluctuations and variations over time.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, while admitting that India-Pakistan relations at present were ''not normal,'' said both countries needed to stop viewing each other as adversaries and instead, should cooperate in bringing prosperity to their respective peoples as peace meant much more than absence of war or conflict.

''We have yet to achieve durable peace and stability...

Unfortunately much more remains to be done by Pakistan to curb cross-border terrorism, which continues despite some fluctuations and variations overtime,'' he said in a spech on 'India-Pakistan : Understanding the Conflict Dynamics' at the Jamia Millia Islamia here.

Highlighting arguments given in both countries to explain the ''unsatisfactory nature'' of relations, Mr Menon re-affirmed India's commitment to a ''peaceful and prosperous periphery,'' specially Pakistan.

He said good-neighbourly relations with Pakistan, or at least normalised relations and a modus vivendi, were in India's interest as a part of durable peace and stability in the sub-continent.

''In seeking this goal, we have indeed moved forward considerably in the last three years, making progress through high level visits, the composite dialogue and other institutional mechanisms such as the Joint Commission,'' he added.

Because of the ongoing peace process, both countries were at a moment of opportunity to remake bilateral relations fundamentally, breaking out of past patterns.

MORE UNI