NEW DELHI: Shahid Malik, Pakistan High Commissioner to India said on Sunday that India was not fulfilling its commitment made in the Sharm-el Sheikh joint statement for resumption of talks between Islamabad and New Delhi.
The 'diplomatic vacuum' would not help the cause of peace and by not talking to each other, 'we are strengthening the forces which don't want the two countries to make any progress', he said in an interview with Karan Thapar in Devil's Advocate programme on news channel CNN-IBN.
Referring to actions against suspects of Mumbai attacks, he said Pakistan was not slow in taking action. It was 'looking for credible actionable evidence' to ensure that the case is 'fool-proof', the Pakistani envoy said.
Referring to the July 16 joint statement made by Prime Ministers of both countries in Sharm-el Sheikh, Malik said it mentioned that 'the efforts that we are continuing to do in the context of terrorism and the dialogue process, they have to be delinked and they are not to be bracketed.'
He said he was 'referring to the commitment, the agreement the two Prime Ministers made in Sharm-el-Sheikh on July 16 and if you look at the joint statement, it is very clear that dialogue is the only way forward.'
'We were hoping and still continue to harbour hope that the two countries would get down and talk to each other and discuss all the issues,' he said while responding to a question.
Malik said Pakistan has been asking India to initiate dialogue process but there 'there has been no response.'
Pakistan was looking for 'a result-oriented focused dialogue' between the two countries, he said.
Expressing concerns over the two countries not talking to each other, Malik said, 'My worry is that by not talking to each other, we are strengthening the forces which don't want the two countries to make any progress.'
Asked if the two countries were not communicating with each other, Malik said the foreign offices of the two countries were in constant touch over a variety of issues but 'when it comes to holding a structured composite dialogue, yes, that is not taking place.'
Commenting on the present status of the relations between the two sides, Malik said, 'We are at a stage when we are not talking to each other. There is no diplomatic exchange and there is no dialogue.'
When asked Pakistan was not moving fast enough on investigations in the 26/11 terror attack case, Malik said, 'I would not agree with that... FIR was lodged against the seven accused in February, within four months of the tragedy.
'The trial is continuing and as a matter of fact on October 10, a formal trial against the seven accused has begun,' Malik said.
The Pakistani envoy said his country was looking for 'credible actionable evidence against the individuals (so) that our case is fool-proof and we can argue the case and it will strengthen hands of the prosecutors.'
Commenting on India's demand for early justice in the case, Malik said, 'I don't think the Indian audience wants justice of the law of the jungle to prevail. Pakistan surely doesn't.... the accused has every right to put up their own defence.'
Asked what would Pakistan do to convince India about its actions against terror, Malik said, 'I don't have to convince India... If anybody in India expects that we will be able to get up and prosecute a person, that will not help.'
When asked about action taken against Jamaat-ud-Dawa , he said, 'assets of the operatives of the JuD were frozen. There was restriction on their movement. All the practical steps that were required to be taken by the Pakistan government have been taken.'
On Pakistan government not appealing against Hafiz Saeed's release by a Pakistani High Court, he said that the federal and the Punjab governments had appealed against the court order.
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