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2009-07-15
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Wednesday called it premature to ponder over a schedule for dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Bashir’s statement came after his 90-minute detailed discussions with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on terrorism and Mumbai attacks. The duo is scheduled to meet later today again to lay down the foundation for Thursday talks between India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Pakistan welcomes dialogue on terror as it is the point of concern for the whole region, Bashir said while talking to a private news channel.
However, he refrained from commenting on Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, saying the matter is in the court.
The provincial Punjab government on Tuesday informed Pakistan's Supreme Court that it wanted to withdraw its petition challenging a lower court's order that released Saeed from detention, saying it did not have adequate evidence against him.
Bashir, however, insisted that the “stakes here are too high just to link them to one or the other issue”. He wants Indo-Pak talks to go beyond the sentiments of Mumbai terror attacks.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Attorney General Latif Khosa has asked the government to restrict movement of JuD leaders.
Underlining the necessity of Saeed’s preventive detention, Khosa told a private news channel that all assets and accounts of JuD leaders have been frozen.
I am waiting for the appeal date on July 16, Khosa said.
Saeed is the prime accused in the November 2008 Mumbai terror strikes.
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