国际英语新闻：India offer of talks aims to break deadlock over ties with Pakistan

NEW DELHI, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- One day after India proposed to Pakistan for the resumption of talks suspended after Mumbai attacks, words were doing the rounds Friday here in media and among political experts that the move aims to break the deadlock over ties with Pakistan.

Indian media reported Thursday, quoting official sources, that New Delhi proposed foreign secretary-level talks to Islamabad on all outstanding issues affecting peace and security, including counter-terrorism.

Widely regarded as the most important diplomatic initiative by India toward Pakistan for more than one year, the proposal followed Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's statement that India was willing to normalize ties with Pakistan and the doors to dialogue with the country were never shut.

Political analysts said that India's proposal of secretary- level talks with Pakistan has resulted from two main aspects: Islamabad's indications that it is serious about bringing the perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks to justice, and the growing calls of the international community, including that of the United States, on the two countries to resume composite dialogue.

"Pakistan's readiness to accept the lone surviving gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab's confessional statement as evidence to prosecute the plotters of the Mumbai attacks, and other evidence with respect to boats used to ferry the militants from Karachi to Mumbai, is a welcome step for India. New Delhi's offer of talks indicates that," said political analyst Professor Ajay Singh.

India, which suspended the composite dialogue process after the Mumbai terror attacks which claimed the lives of over 170 people in 2008, had made an attempt to re-start the peace process at Sharm-el-Sheikh non-aligned movement summit in Egypt in July last year.

However, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to step back when the decision to de-link terror from the composite dialogue process failed to gain support of his ruling Congress party and other political parties at home.

"Moreover, India is said to be under pressure from the international community, particularly the U.S., to resume the peace talks. Any thaw between the two countries would be welcomed abroad -- particularly by the U.S., Britain and other NATO countries who have troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban said political expert S.K. Gupta.

"New Delhi is being nudged to mend fences with Pakistan, so that Pakistani military can focus on the fight with al Qaeda, Taliban and other militant elements at the Afghanistan border. Better relations between Delhi and Islamabad are a vital element in any broader regional settlement," he added.

Welcoming the move, former Indian diplomat Arundhati Ghosh said: "It is good that India is making a move towards talks. While the rest of the world understands India's problems, I find more and more people questioning our policy in the region. International opinion is for constructive engagement."

Another expert on South Asia, Dipanker Banarjee, said the announcement is significant, but it's just the first step in re- establishing diplomatic links between India and Pakistan.

"What we are hoping to achieve is to address the whole gamut of outstanding issues between the two countries. We are really only talking about the success of the initiation of the talks, we're not talking yet of a conclusion," he said.

Indian media have also more or less welcomed the move.

Leading English daily Indian Express said that calling Pakistan for talks indicates that "India breaks the Nov. 26 ice".

"(It is) an incremental step aimed at restoring some official- level conversation on terrorism and a range of issues affecting bilateral ties," it said in an editorial page article.

In a guarded tone, the country's largest selling English daily The Times of India also said that the offer indicated "fresh hopes of thaw" in relations with Islamabad.