Pak isn't curbing terror, India tells US

Amid the US nudge for resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, India on Wednesday made it clear that the talks can take place only after cross-border terror is stopped and is understood to have conveyed its dismay over inaction by Islamabad in this regard.

During the talks between Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Under Secretary of State William Burns in New Delhi, the Indian side is believed to have noted that Pakistan has not done enough in curbing terror directed against this country and bringing to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks.

Burns, the first high-ranking US official to visit India during UPA government's second tenure, also met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

"The most important point is that terror which has been unleashed from the soil of Pakistan directed against India has to be stopped," Krishna told reporters later.

"(All) instrumentalities of terrorism which are aimed at India, which is emanating from the Pakistani soil, will have to be dismantled and perhaps then a favourable climate, atmosphere would have been created for the dialogue to be resumed between Pakistan and India," he said.

Ahead of Burns's visit, the State Department had said the US wanted the Indo-Pak dialogue to resume and that the Under Secretary would raise the issue during his discussions.

"We would support more dialogue between the two countries (India and Pakistan).. I am sure that Under Secretary Burns will talk about this issue among the many issues that he has on his agenda," spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington.

Menon is believed to have told Burns that India is not averse to resuming dialogue with Pakistan but for that a proper atmosphere will have to be created by Islamabad.

The Foreign Secretary is understood to have emphasised that talks with Pakistan cannot take place in an atmosphere of violence and lingering fears of terror attacks emanating from that country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Tuesday said India would meet Pakistan "more than half-way" if its leadership shows courage to crackdown on terrorism.

"It is in our vital interest to try again to make peace with Pakistan but it takes two hands to clap," he said.

Menon is believed to have told Burns that India is disappointed with Pakistan's inaction against those behind the Mumbai attacks, which is highlighted by the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

India is convinced that Saeed was set free by the Lahore High Court after six-month detention as the Pakistan government did not file adequate charges against him.

Burns carrying Obama letter: US Under Secretary of State William Burns, currently on a visit to New Delhi, is carrying a private presidential letter for the Indian government, with whom the Obama administration is looking forward to work with, a top official said in Washington.

Terming India as "absolutely critical" in the region, US Special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said: "India is a country that we must keep in the closest consultations with."

"At midnight last, I spoke to Undersecretary of State Bill Burns immediately after he had landed in New Delhi," Holbrooke said in his maiden press conference after occupying the current position five months ago.

"He is carrying a presidential letter to the Indian government. He is carrying the message that I would have carried if I would had time to go to New Delhi on this trip, but I couldn't do it," said Holbrooke, who early this week returned from a trip to Pakistan.

Holbrooke, however, declined to divulge the content of the message, saying: "It is a private letter".

"But the important thing is that the number three person in the Department of State has gone to India to reaffirm immediately after the election," he said.

"We consider India an absolutely critical country in the region. They're not part of the problem but they are vitally effective and we want to work closely with them," he said.