Pak diplomatic circles not expecting 'major breakthrough' during Indo-Pak secretaries meet in Egypt

Islamabad, July 10 (ANI): Pakistan's diplomatic circles are not expecting any major 'breakthrough' during the meeting of foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt next week.

Diplomatic sources said that the failure of Pakistan to address India's demand on Mumbai probe would certainly have an impact on the meet, which would be followed by a meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani.

"The situation is quite dicey, signals from India are not particularly positive," The Dawn quoted diplomatic sources, as saying.

They opined that the talks between the foreign secretaries would be very important as they would 'set the tone' for the PM's meet.

While Pakistan is trying hard to convince India that it is sincere in its probe regarding the Mumbai attack, the Indian leadership has made it clear that resumption of the stalled peace talks solely depend on Islamabad's action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 carnage.

In an apparent bid to pacify India, the Pakistan government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and appointed a judge in the Anti-Terrorism Court-II, in which the trial of the five accused of the Mumbai terror strikes is going on, but India has blamed Pakistan of sending 'confusing signals'.

"The Indians have been telling us that they wanted to see the prosecution of the accused in Mumbai attacks, but our contention is that this would take quite some time and that their position is untenable," sources added.

But they still believe that the meeting between Manmohan Singh and Gilani could result in something substantial.

"Politicians are capable of pulling off surprises," they said. (ANI)