New Delhi:
The government has made it clear that its decision to allow Pakistani cricket team to play in India was not a "dilution" of its stand on perpetrators of Mumbai terror attack and that the decision was not "irreversible or permanent".
Demanding that the Pakistani government must deliver on its "frequently indicated promise" of bringing those responsible for 26/11 to book, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said "we do hope this (resumption of cricketing ties) will be seen more of an attempt to persuade those people that this is collaborative effort and what was a conflict must be put to an end.
"It is a conflict on which there must be delivery of expectations that we have but we don't want the clock to come to a standstill, the clock does move forward..." said Mr Khurshid.
The minister said, "As far as cricket is concerned, we are certainly concerned about issues that relates to accountability for very unforeseen attack on our citizens and we expect all countries, including our neighbour country Pakistan, to deliver on their frequently indicated promise that they will make these people accountable. There is no question of dilution of our demand and expectation."
"I don't think isolation or cutting of any contact or communication has ever helped," Mr Khurshid said in his first official press interaction after becoming the External Affairs Minister on Sunday.
However, he said the decision was not "irreversible" and it will be reviewed if required.
Asserting that India was cautious, careful and committed as far as its security was concerned, Mr Khurshid said, however, they should look at the possible "future that is not held hostage by the past".
On the decision of resuming the sporting ties, he said, "These are issues that are decided by people who have authority and have mandate on how far we should go and we should have faith in them."