External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna on Thursday said one should not pre-judge the outcome of the new initiative for talks between India and Pakistan as these were primarily aimed at reducing the “trust deficit” between the two neighbours.
“Let us not pre-judge the outcome. An initiative has been taken by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This is primarily to reduce the trust deficit.
This is a confidence building measure,” Mr. Krishna told reporters.
He said this in reply to a question on whether the Sir Creek issue would figure in the Indo-Pak talks. He was speaking on the sidelines of the All India Annual Conference for Haj.
Mr. Gilani and Dr. Singh met during the SAARC summit in Bhutan in April which saw restoration of dialogue between the two countries after nine months. India had asked Pakistan to take action against the 26/11 Mumbai attack accused living in the neighbouring country before talks could be resumed.
When asked about China’s attempt to build a rail link with Pakistan through Karakoram, Krishna said, “Our National Security Advisor (NSA) went to China as Prime Minister’s emissary. I have not got a chance to discuss the issue with him yet. But we are closely watching what is happening.”
NSA Shiv Shankar Menon had visited China last week to discuss bilateral issues.
