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The next meeting between the senior diplomats from India and Pakistan could occur in Islamabad, the Hindustan Times reported today (see GSN, March 4).
Foreign secretaries from the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals met last month in New Delhi for discussions hoped to lead to resumption of full peace talks. India suspended peace negotiations following the 2008 terrorist strikes that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai. The Indian government has accused Islamabad of failing to suppress the Pakistani-based organization it blames for the attacks.
"The foreign secretary of Pakistan came here for the talks. So, perhaps it is the turn of [the] Indian foreign secretary to go to Pakistan," said Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.
Krishna would not say whether Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would meet informally with a Pakistani leader while attending a nuclear security summit in Washington. Reports have indicated that Singh could meet with either Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari or Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani if one of the leaders attends to summit (Hindustan Times, March 16).
Yesterday in Washington, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Islamabad was not doing enough to carry out its pledge to root out extremists based in Pakistan, Asian News International reported (Asian News International/Yahoo!News, March 16).