08-02-2008, 02:41 AM
[center]<b><span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>Indian Official Sees Sinking Relations With Pakistan</span></b>[/center]
<b>BANGALORE, India â The Indian Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, said his countryâs relationship with Pakistan had sunk to a new low since 2003, when the two nuclear rivals stepped back from the brink of war and began peace talks.
His unusually blunt public comments come on the heels of several cease-fire violations on the disputed border of Kashmir and a deadly bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which India and the United States have blamed Pakistanâs leading military intelligence agency , the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
âIf you ask me to describe the state of the dialogue, it is in a place where it hasnât been in the last four years,â Mr. Menon told journalists at the annual summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. âWe face a situation where things have happened in the recent past which were unfortunate and which, quite frankly, have affected the future of the dialogue.â</b>
Pakistan has denied that it had any hand in the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month, which killed 58 people, including four Indians.
India accuses Pakistan of three breaches of the 2003 cease-fire on the so-called Line of Control in Kashmir.
After the Kabul blast, Mr. Menon had described the relationship as âunder stress.â
âThat is why we are talking to Pakistan,â he added Friday. âThat is why we are carrying on the conversation.â
India has not cut off the peace talks, and privately, Indian officials have said that the peace effort has been strained by internal political problems inside Pakistan and the openings it may have created for hard-line forces. âIf you have this fluid situation, you have elements within the army, within the ISI who have the opportunity to move forward with their own agenda, with respect to Afghanistan and India,â said a senior Indian official last week. He would not allow his name to be published because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the subject. âThe peace process is in limbo. There is no direction. This is what has opened up the door to these elements.â
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India is scheduled to meet with his Pakistani counterpart, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, on Saturday at the summit meeting in Colombo.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>BANGALORE, India â The Indian Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, said his countryâs relationship with Pakistan had sunk to a new low since 2003, when the two nuclear rivals stepped back from the brink of war and began peace talks.
His unusually blunt public comments come on the heels of several cease-fire violations on the disputed border of Kashmir and a deadly bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, which India and the United States have blamed Pakistanâs leading military intelligence agency , the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
âIf you ask me to describe the state of the dialogue, it is in a place where it hasnât been in the last four years,â Mr. Menon told journalists at the annual summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. âWe face a situation where things have happened in the recent past which were unfortunate and which, quite frankly, have affected the future of the dialogue.â</b>
Pakistan has denied that it had any hand in the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month, which killed 58 people, including four Indians.
India accuses Pakistan of three breaches of the 2003 cease-fire on the so-called Line of Control in Kashmir.
After the Kabul blast, Mr. Menon had described the relationship as âunder stress.â
âThat is why we are talking to Pakistan,â he added Friday. âThat is why we are carrying on the conversation.â
India has not cut off the peace talks, and privately, Indian officials have said that the peace effort has been strained by internal political problems inside Pakistan and the openings it may have created for hard-line forces. âIf you have this fluid situation, you have elements within the army, within the ISI who have the opportunity to move forward with their own agenda, with respect to Afghanistan and India,â said a senior Indian official last week. He would not allow his name to be published because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the subject. âThe peace process is in limbo. There is no direction. This is what has opened up the door to these elements.â
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India is scheduled to meet with his Pakistani counterpart, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, on Saturday at the summit meeting in Colombo.
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->