India will persist with its demand that Pakistan prosecute all those involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks despite the decision to resume cricketing ties with that nation, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday.
At a press conference — his first in his new role as External Affairs Minister — after a meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation here, he pointed out that continued isolation “never helped,” though a degree of aloofness was “called for” after the attacks. The coming cricket series, he hoped, would be seen as “more of an attempt to persuade those people that this is a collaborative effort and what was a conflict must be put to an end.”
“We are certainly concerned about the accountability for the attack. There is no question of dilution in our stand… We expect all countries, including Pakistan, to deliver on their frequently made promises,” he said.
In dealing with neighbours, Mr. Khurshid said, some issues of which there was no immediate resolution should be put aside in favour of those on which consensus was possible for improving the relations. At the same time, he indicated that the cricketing ties with Pakistan were open for review. “It is not an irreversible or permanent decision.”
