India and Pakistan Thursday agreed to enhance counter-terror cooperation to deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail their improving relationship as their foreign secretaries held talks to firm up 'comprehensive, sustained and meaningful dialogue'.
'We must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improving the relationship,' said India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao after airing New Delhi's 'core concerns' over terrorism at delegation-level talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
'We believe that dialogue is the best way forward,' Rao said at a packed press conference, the first joint media interaction the two sides have held since the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, indicating a further easing of ties.
Rao and Bashir held talks on an entire gamut of bilateral talks, including terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir, with a view to firming up the agenda for a more substantive meeting bwtween Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi'.
'During our discussions, we have accepted the modalities for restoring trust and confidence for comprehensive, sustained and meaningful dial'gue,' said Rao, indicating a distinct shif' to 'an exploratory'mode' on India's part to rebuild the dialogue that was frozen after 26/11.
This was the first round of talks since the thaw initiated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani nearly two months ago when they directed their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to meet and work out the modalities of restoring trust between the two countries.
Rao, however, made it clear that these exploratory talks should not be construed as a resumption of the composite dialogue process, indicating a possible new format to carry forward the re-engagement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours'.
'You must focus that dialogue is the best option for deepening the relationship. It is not an issue of nomencla'ure,' said Rao.
