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India brushes aside US suggestion for resumption of Indo-Pak talks

''Dialogue can be resumed only when there is a climate conducive for it,'' external affairs ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao told reporters when asked about US Secretary of State Colin Powell underscoring the need for India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue to reduce tensions.

Such a climate could be created only when Pakistan puts a permanent end to infiltration, cross-border terrorism and takes visible and credible action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, she said.

Following the May 27 assurance by Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to take effective action to stop infiltration, there was a '30 per cent fall in infiltration', she said.

"This was a temporary phenomenon since infiltration levels picked up again. In the last week of June, we saw at least three incidents of attempts to infiltrate," she said.

''A 30 per cent fall in infiltration is not reason enough for resumption of dialogue,'' she said.

Powell is likely to visit India and Pakistan on his way to Brunei to attend meetings of the ASEAN ministerial and regional forum on July 30 and 31.

PTI

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