Islamabad, Kabul to resume talks

Although Prime Minister Gilani at a meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had said Saturday that he would discuss the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul with Karzai and will ask for evidence from the Afghan President, but the joint statement made no reference to the embassy bombing.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the meeting lasted over an hour in a cordial atmosphere. He further said that the barrage of accusations was likely to come to a halt after this meeting.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said there was no evidence linking his country to attacks on India, adding such accusations had hurt the peace process, a report said on Sunday.

Both India and Afghanistan blamed Pakistan’s spy agency for a July 7 attack on India’s embassy in Kabul in which two Indian diplomats were among 58 people killed, prompting India to say the peace process was “under stress.”

Gilani’s comments came a day after he promised his Indian counterpart to hold an inquiry into the alleged role of his spy agency in the Kabul attack.

“The Indian statement is not only surprising but shocking too,” Gilani told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader newspaper in an interview.

“There were also bombing incidents in Pakistan subsequently, but we have not pointed fingers at anyone as we believe in carrying out investigations before laying responsibility.”

Gilani said unproven charges made by India hurt peace. “Such baseless accusations serve no purpose other than vitiating bilateral atmosphere,” he said.

“It is important that the blame game is avoided, as both countries have an institutionalised counter-terror mechanism which is functioning satisfactorily.”

He was referring to a 2006 anti-terrorism mechanism they established to provide a platform for information exchange and assistance in investigations.

Analysts and diplomats say the promise of an investigation by Pakistan into the Kabul bombing was an honorable ‘safety valve’ that would defuse tension.

The language used after the meeting between the two prime ministers was much measured, with India’s top foreign ministry official describing it as ‘a candid and open conversation between two people who both wanted to see a way forward in this situation’.