New Delhi: Bringing the Pakistanis involved in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to justice is expected to top the agenda as India and Pakistan restart their stalled dialogue when External Affairs Minister SM Krishna meets Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on July 15 in Islamabad.
The India-Pakistan crawl towards bridging the trust deficit has moved another cautious inch forward with Krishna and Qureshi finalising the dates of their meeting in Islamabad after a 25-minute conversation over the phone on Tuesday.
"Talks will take place on the 15th of July," said Qureshi after the telephonic conversation.
"I am looking forward to these talks. I hope these talks will bring both countries closer," said Krishna.
Now the focus is on what the two sides will talk about. Top of the agenda is whether to return to the Composite Dialogue. While India is reluctant, Pakistan all for it. The ground for the meeting will be prepared when the two foreign secretaries meet on the sidelines of a SAARC terrorism conference next month.
Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram will also be present at the conference where India hopes Pakistan will make some move to show it's serious about anti-India terrorists based in its territory.
A good indicator will be speeding up the trial of the 26/11 accused.
But Qureshi gave no hint of any such give on his government's part.
"We should try that acts of terrorism should not impede the process. It is a very valuable process and we should take it to a level where it becomes irreversible," he said.
Given the uncertainties such as another terror strike on India, the crabwise crawl towards talks is perhaps understandable. And much as the Pakistanis may want talks to be de-linked from further terror strikes, public mood in India is unlikely to allow that.
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