New Delhi:
NDTV has learnt that India has formally proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks to Pakistan after a gap of 5 months.
Ironically, this development comes on a day when the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely acknowledged as a front for terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) held an anti-India "Kashmir Solidarity" conference in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met last in September in New York.
Sources in the government say no dates have been fixed yet for the new round of talks, and the agenda has not been decided. Terrorism will remain the key focus, but all other issues that "create an atmosphere of peace and stability" between the two countries will be on the table. This includes humanitarian issues. Sources point out this is not to be mixed up with the structured composite dialogue that existed earlier between India and Pakistan.
Sources say India is "going in with an open mind and won't pre-judge the outcome."
So far, Pakistan has not responded to the offer. The Foreign Office Spokesman, Abdul Basit, has been quoted as telling Pakistani newspaper The DAWN that nothing short of the Composite Dialogue will be acceptable.
India is reportedly concerned about the Jamaat conference. The JuD is headed by Hafiz Saeed, who India believes is the mastermind behind the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Pakistan has repeatedly said that India has been able to back its claim with evidence against Saeed. India says this is incorrect.
Indian government sources say "it's better to talk to them about our concerns...Hafiz Saeed is not being treated as a test case."