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Terming the run-up to the election in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan as a 'very critical period,' newly appointed Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal on Monday said India will closely watch whether Islamabad implemented its commitment to end infiltration and cross-border terrorism permanently before taking 'further steps.'
Sibal, 58, who succeeded Chokila Iyer as foreign secretary, told reporters that India's experience in the past had not been very positive.
A 1966-batch IFS officer, Sibal said one should concentrate on the fact that the international community was putting pressure on Pakistan.
He said the election in J&K and in Pakistan were "very relevant, and the September-October was "a very critical period" to see whether international pressure and what India has been asking for was being complied with by Pakistan and if "words are matched with action."
On continuing Indo-Pak tensions, Sibal said "diplomatic success in the last months is more evident now. Earlier countries were not willing to accept that what Pakistan was doing was terrorism."
He said last week's statement of the Group of Eight industrialised nations -- G-8 -- and the resolution by the European Union showed "very explicitly" that they were now "accepting that what Pakistan is doing in J&K and other parts of India is terrorism."
He said there was international consensus that Pakistan must stop terrorism. "This is a big diplomatic success" and added that the Indian leadership has made it clear that New Delhi was ready to start the parleys provided Pakistan stops terrorism in this country.
"This is not simply what India is asking but the international community itself is asking," he said.
Sibal said Musharraf made certain commitments in his speech on January 12. "Everybody believes that he has not implemented them". That during US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's recent visit, it was conveyed to the Indian government that Musharraf would take steps to end infiltration permanently. But in interveiws given to Newsweek and the BBC, the Pakistani military ruler claimed he has not given any such assurance.
He hoped that finally Pakistan would realise that it would be for its own good, future and for getting the support of the international community to fully implement its pledges and assurances.
Sibal was India's ambassador to France from 1998 before taking over in April as secretary (West). He will have a tenure of 17 months. He has served in Cairo, Washington, Ankara, Kathmandu, Lisbon, Tanzania and London besides holding important slots in Delhi.
PTI
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