Pak for Sharm-el-Sheikh follow-up with India

Ahead of Thursday's talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan has reportedly indicated that it would like the discussions to be a follow up of the talks held at the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in July last year.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the two countries should hold talks based on Sharm-el-Sheikh agreement.  It is pertinent to mention that the Sharm-el-Sheikh pact signed in Egypt in July 2009 delinked terrorism from talks. 

Pakistan's pre-condition for talks has come despite India's well-known position that it is against delinking terrorism from talks' agenda.

Earlier in the day, Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the prime ministers of India and Pakistan would hold a bilateral meet on Thursday. In a statement, MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash said: "It has been agreed through diplomatic channels that the PMs of India and Pakistan will have a bilateral meeting tomorrow, Thursday the 29th of April."

India suspended its formal peace process with Pakistan in November 2008 after Pakistan-based militants carried out terrorist attacks on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, and left over 160 persons as killed and many others injured.

Indian position has been that Pakistan must bring to justice the perpetrators of 26/11 to carry forward the talks-process between the countries.  During the Sharam-el-Sheikh meet in July, 2008, Gilani's blame on India that it was interfering in Pakistan's Baluchistan province was viewed as an attempt by Pakistan to deflect attention from its own terrorism problem.

In February, India and Pakistan Foreign secretaries held talks in New Delhi but made little progress.  Meanwhile, in the latest developments on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani shook hands during the official dinner hosted for all the heads of states in Thimpu.