India, not terrorism, biggest threat, Sartaj tells Kerry

Says Pakistan to reciprocate if India reduces its nuclear stockpile; Indian minister alleges Pakistan backs ‘non-state actors’; foreign secretary says attack more important than dialogue; FO says Pakistan ‘sincere’ in probing attack; Rehman Malik accuses India of blame game

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs, has asked India to reduce its nuclear stockpile so that Pakistan can consider reciprocation. He said India, not terrorism, is the biggest threat to the region.

He underscored that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is a major deterrent, a fact that the US also recognises. Responding sharply to Secretary John Kerry’s suggestion to cut down nuclear capability, Sartaj Aziz said that it was India that was stockpiling and not Pakistan as it has to keep up a minimum deterrence.

“If they increase the stockpile, we cannot reduce ours,” he said. Secretary Kerry had urged Pakistan to reduce its nuclear arsenal by making it front and centre of its policy. Interestingly, Kerry did not mention if the US will ask India to do the same. Sartaj Aziz in return had asked the US to show a greater understanding of Pakistan’s security concerns and its desire to contribute as a mainstream nuclear power.

The US appreciates Pakistan’s ongoing efforts of command and control in this regard and both countries decided to continue constructive discussion in the Security, Strategic Stability and Non-proliferation working group, Sartaj said adding, “This is what strategic stability means, to have that deterrence capability.”

He maintained: “India’s nuclear arsenal has a qualitative side which is continually modernising, so Pakistan has to respond.”

Sartaj Aziz was briefing the media here on Wednesday on the proceedings of the sixth round of the Strategic Dialogue between the US and Pakistan. He pointed out that the joint statement mentioned Pakistan’s commitment to pursuing measures aimed at building confidence and lessening the risk of armed conflict. “Both sides recognised the shared interest in strategic stability in South Asia and in pursuing increased transparency,” he read out a line from the joint statement.

The joint statement had a separate header which highlighted that the US and Pakistan resolved to continue to work together to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540, and noted that both have supported and implemented relevant UNSC Resolutions. It also said that the United States acknowledged Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to harmonise its strategic trade controls with those of the multilateral export control regimes. The United States noted appreciation for Pakistan’s proactive engagement with the international community, including through its hosting of IAEA training activities at its Nuclear Security Center of Excellence and its active participation in the Nuclear Security Summits.

Meanwhile, for the first time since the terrorist attack on the Indian airbase of Pathankot in January, India has directly accused the government in Pakistan of helping the non-state actors who carried out the attack.

Earlier, New Delhi had blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) for this attack which saw all terrorists taken out. Pakistan, ever since the attack took place, has never shied away from investigating the crime and has taken several steps in this regard, which were earlier welcomed by New Delhi.

Also, India now says that tackling the issue of this terrorist attack is more important than a dialogue between the two sides. Pakistan, meanwhile, remains optimistic with Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in a statement in Washington saying that the foreign secretary-level dialogue would be rescheduled after a special investigative team visited India in the next few days.

It was Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, while speaking in Indian Parliament on Tuesday, who accused Pakistan of supporting the terrorists.

“Pakistan’s non-state actors were definitely behind the attack. Also, no non-state actor from there (Pakistan) can function smoothly without the state’s support,” said the minister.

He added, “All details of the attack will only come out in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation.”

When the spokesman at the Foreign Office here was asked to respond to this accusation, he did not outright reject these allegations but rather brushed aside a formal statement in Indian Parliament as saying, “We do not comment on media reports.” He said that Pakistan is “sincere” in the cooperation it is extending in the investigation.

While Islamabad keeps silent, on Wednesday the Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, speaking at a global conclave on geopolitics and geo-economics organised by the External Affairs Ministry and the Observer Research Foundation, put a damper on firming up dates for the foreign secretary-level meeting in Islamabad saying that action against terror took priority to dialogue.

“In the aftermath of a terrorist attack, if you ask me what do you give priority to, a terrorist attack or a diplomatic dialogue, I think the answer should be obvious,” Jaishankar said .

Talks between the foreign secretaries had earlier been scheduled for the middle of January this year but got derailed after the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot.

Jaishankar, commenting further, said that there was a parallel process working between the two sides on the continuing investigations.

“Since the Pathankot attack happened, the governments of India and Pakistan have been in touch primarily through the NSAs (national security advisers), to some extent communications between me and my counterpart,” he said.

“There was also a phone call between (Pakistani) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and our prime minister (Narendra Modi). The picture you see is of really parallel processes which are working,” the Indian foreign secretary said.

Online adds: Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the Modi-led government in India does not want relations with Pakistan on the principle of equality and India always remains engaged in blame game against Pakistan.

He said this while commenting on Indian interior minister’s statement while talking to the media here. He held that Pakistan was expecting that India would be grateful over registration of FIR in respect of the attack on Pathankot and India in return would register an FIR against the persons involved in Samjhota Express incident.

He observed that all the governments in India remain engaged in blame game against Pakistan and the Modi-led government would never want ties with Pakistan on the principle of equality.