Islamabad:
With India and Pakistan engaging in war of words post-July 15 parleys between their Foreign Ministers, Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday tweeted that the talks should not be judged "mathematically like 2+2=4" but should be seen as a "positive step".
"It is time for exchange of hearts. Let us sow seeds of love and peace, so that future generations have only the option to reap love, and noting but love, let us save our future generations from the disease of hate and terrorism," Malik, who has nearly 3,500 followers, said in his latest Twitter posting.
His soothing comments came amid exchange of barbs between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi following their meeting here on Thursday last.
Malik, who had a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram on the margins of the SAARC Interior Ministers' conference here last month, said that they both "will move forward in terms of delivery of commitments based on what we agreed."
"The roadmap of commitment and performance between me and he Mr Chidambaram is fully intact," he said in his message posted on the social networking website.
"Pak-India talks should not be judged mathematically like 2+2=4 but be assessed with past political and diplomatic rival history of two countries in view," Malik said.
He said: "We should be happy that Pakistan and India are now at least interacting on the core issues. Hence meeting between the two FMs should be viewed as a positive step."
Separately, Malik told reporters at the Interior Ministry on Saturday that a roadmap prepared by him and Chidambaram was still intact and "good results" were expected soon.
Referring to his June 25 talks with Chidambaram, Malik said: "I and Chidambaram sahab met, we have agreed (on) a roadmap and that roadmap is intact. We don't like terrorism. (We) will not allow anyone to use Pakistani soil against any other country."
He said the roadmap finalised by him and Chidambaram is expected to produce "good results" soon but did not give details. Responding to several questions on Pakistan's probe into the Mumbai attacks, Malik said Islamabad has requested New Delhi to send the magistrates and police officer who recorded Ajmal Kasab's statement so that they can testify in the anti-terrorism court that is conducting the trial of Pakistani suspects.
These Indian officials "must come and appear before the (Pakistani) court and testify that Ajmal Kasab had (made) a statement before them," he said.
"Once they testify before our court, automatically the trial will be put on fast track," he said.
Malik pointed out that Kasab's statement to Indian authorities was the basis of the First Information Report filed by Pakistani investigators.
Pakistani prosecutors are facing problems because the country's courts have refused to declare Kasab as a "proclaimed offender" or fugitive for the purpose of the trial in Pakistan, Malik said.
A special court in Mumbai recently convicted Kasab for his role in the 2008 attacks and sentenced him to death.
Malik also said an investigation is underway on information provided by Pakistani-American David Headley, who is in custody in the US and has been charged with facilitating the Lashker-e-Taiba in carrying out the Mumbai attacks.
Referring to the dialogue between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan, Malik told the reporters that this is "a continuous process that will yield positive results."
Pakistan has made India aware of its concerns during the recent talks and "all issues will gradually settle in coming days," he said.