New Delhi, August 28
Terrorism and drug trafficking would be the main focus of the Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan which begins here tomorrow in the midst of efforts to release Sarabjit Singh, who is facing death sentence.
Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah, who is leading an 11-member delegation to the two-day talks with his Indian counterpart V.K. Duggal, has said that he will like to discuss the issue of the prisoners languishing in each other’s country.
During the talks, the Indian side could raise the issue of the release of Sarabjit Singh, as his family claims him to be innocent and his trial resulting from mistaken identity.
The Indian side will raise security concerns and urge the Pakistani side to widen cooperation in combating the
menace of terrorism in deference to the objectives set out by leaders of both countries in the joint statement issued in New Delhi during the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in April last, an official statement said today.
It said efforts would be made to expedite the finalisation and signing of the MoU between the two agencies to have a regular institutional mechanism in place on drug control matters.
The need for such an MoU was agreed upon by both sides at the last Home Secretary-level talks held in Islamabad in August last year.
This is the third round of Home-Secretary level talks, which form part of the ongoing Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process.
As part of the Composite Dialogue process, the talks were earlier held in Islamabad during which India had asked Pakistan to dismantle the terror infrastructure on its territory and fulfil the promise made by General Musharraf in the January 6, 2004, joint statement.
Official sources said a joint statement was likely to be issued at the conclusion of the two-day parleys on Tuesday.
In the past two rounds, India had consistently raised the issue of use of the Pakistani territory for fomenting terrorism and drug trafficking in South Asia.
India has also asked Islamabad to dismantle the terror infrastructure as reports indicated that they still existed despite the earlier assurances.
