New Delhi, May 19: India Wednesday said the foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan should not be construed as resumption of Composite Dialogue as it was only an exercise to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries.
 “If you look at the Thimphu text there is nothing about the dialogue at all - the mandate for the foreign ministers and foreign secretaries is to bridge the trust deficit - that is going to be the main thrust of our discussions,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told Delhi-based news channel CNN-IBN.
 Krishna said the central point of dialogue with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be to explore ways to eliminate the distrust between the two countries.
 “That will be the starting point and if we can hit common ground then other substantial issues can be taken up,” he said.
 Noting that Home Minister P Chidambaram will be visiting Pakistan ahead of him, Krishna said his (Chidambaram’s) assessment of the situation will form the basis on which the foreign ministers discussions would proceed.
 “The Home Minister is going ahead of me and he is going to meet the Pakistani leadership and he is going to place all the facts so far collected with reference to militant activities. I am sure he will be able to present India’s case and then let us see what is the response from the Pakistani side and then he is going to come back and present his assessment and that will be the basis on which our discussions will proceed,” Krishna said.
 He underlined that unless there is action against terror, things at the government level will remain the same.
 “Unless there is action on terror, perhaps I might go to Islamabad, Foreign Minister Qureshi might come to Delhi, things at the government level, I am afraid, will remain the same,” Krishna said.
 “We would like to make a major breakthrough on terror,” he said.
 Asked about he referring to a transformation in Indo-Pak ties in Parliament, the minister said he meant that a new beginning has to be made for which the two countries must be ready.
 “When I said transformation, I mean that a new beginning has to be made and for that new beginning both the countries must be ready. I found in Thimphu that the mindset of Pakistan is ready to accept a transformation,” Krishna said.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 19 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 19 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 IST