Pointing out that no one can dictate terms to the country, the BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said here that ‘talks between National Security Advisors of the two countries were not prime ministerial level talks, but these were talks on the issue of terror. “This will be the subject of the upcoming NSA-level talks”.
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“I think our government needs to clear its stand with Pakistan because when the Prime Minister comes in “election mode”, he says that we will not have any talks with them till there is firing at the border“.
“He (Raghavan) was informed that the Adviser would lead the Pakistan delegation for talks with the NSA of India on 23-24 August, 2015″, said the Pakistan Foreign Office.
Asserting that “Pakistan has always wanted to have a normal and cooperative relationship with India“, he said, “To this end, it was necessary to settle all outstanding issues, particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, to improve relations”.
India is expected to present strong evidence of terrorism emanating from Pakistan highlighted further by recent attacks in Gurdaspur in Punjab and near Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NDA government is also preparing a detailed list of fugitives residing in Pakistan – to be shared during the NSA-level talks – which will have the precise details like addresses of the fugitives in Pakistan rather than just mentioning “residing in Pakistan”. NIA chief Sharad Kumar has personally interrogated Naved who has made stunning disclosures of how he had infiltrated two months back and had undergone training in camps in Muzaffarabad. While India sees the meeting as an opportunity for it to prove its long-held view that militants get support from over its western border, Pakistan wants the dialogue to be broader and form the basis for deeper engagement.
Mr Doval is likely to press for handing over of Dawood, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, expeditious and comprehensive trial of 26/11 case to ensure that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and outfit’s operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi could be punished, sources said.
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The meeting took place a day after Aziz said he would travel to India on August 23 for important security talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval.
