THE statement made by Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon that the contents of the Indo-Pakistan joint statement issued at Sharm El-Shaikh could be a case of bad drafting suggests that New Delhi is trying to backtrack what its Prime Minister had signed on. Were the Indians so nave that they did not know what they were putting down in the draft on such as important issue in Pak-India bilateral ties? The truth is that soon after the joint statement was released in which New Delhi had agreed to de-link the issue of terrorism from the composite dialogue process, there was a storm of protest from BJP and other hardline Hindu political groups. The Congress led government was accused of being soft on Islamabad and it was at that time that it let political expediency to take precedence over the factual position. It is a pity that it has now backed down on the pledge to resume the dialogue. Rather than assuming a threatening posture in asserting itself as a regional hegemon, India must come to the negotiating table to meet the demands of good sense and peace in the Subcontinent.