Countering his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi's retort that India was not ready for the talks and that the Indian delegation got policy orders from New Delhi during Thursday's talks, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna on Friday said it was normal to stay in contact with the leadership.
"I have not spoken to anybody. The mandate given to me was so precise, so clear, that it does not need any additional instructions from Delhi," he said.
But, he maintained, that even if he had used the telephone, in diplomacy it was not wrong in keeping touch with the base. "Foreign Ministers are always in touch with their base, with the political leadership and governmental leadership. There is nothing wrong even if something has happened on these lines," he said.
"However, I am not going to score debating points with Qureshi. I would like to concentrate on serious issues. We did discuss issues that are of concern to both of us. We have made some headway," he said.
With regard to the talks Krishna said: "India is ready for gradual and incremental steps in normalising ties with Pakistan. I am looking forward to improving ties when Qureshi comes to India. We are committed to being a sincere partner in our effort to establish to peaceful and progressive relationship between India and Pakistan."
"Our talks have enabled us to develop better understanding of each others perspectives," Krishna added.
Talking to media persons in Islamabad on Friday, Qureshi had said that India was not prepared for the talks.
"Politics and dialogue should not lead to deadlock...but India was not ready for dialogue... short-sightedness will not help in resolve the issues," Qureshi said.
"The Indian Foreign Minister received foreign policy directions from New Delhi repeatedly during our meeting. This attitude shows that India was not mentally prepared for the talks."
Defending Home Secretary G K Pillai's recent remarks on Inter Services Intelligence's role in Mumbai attacks, Krishna said:
"Where is the comparison? Hafiz Saeed -- He is a person speaking out of turn against India, crying for jihad against India. We have always said that such people inside Pakistan, who incite anti-India propaganda, anti-India statements and feelings, will not help to smoothen ties between our two countries," said Krishna, responding to questions on his return to Delhi from a three-day visit to the Pakistan capital.
Commenting on statements made by Pillai, Krishna said his statement was not anything new, and was already in the public domain. Pillai's statement was based on revelations made by David Coleman Headley, one of the prime movers behind the 26/11 attacks, during his interrogation by FBI investigators.
"There is absolutely no comparison between the two," he added.
Qureshi had expressed his dissatisfaction on Pillai's comments earlier in the day.
"When you point out to Saeed's speech, or speeches, let me draw your attention to the Indian Home Secretary's (G.K. Pillai) statement. The dialogue, which was reported in all Pakistani papers Tell me, to what extent it has helped? We were of the opinion that it was uncalled for. We will not go into those details. Whatever is said is on record."
On the outcome of his visit to Islamabad, Krishna said that unless the issue of terrorism was not addressed, all other efforts will be futile. He also claimed that the trust deficit with Pakistan was getting reduced.
"The very fact that I went to Islamabad and I talked about core issues in our relationship... if you consider it as a gain, I am ready to along with it. We talked about some of the burning issues that confront the two countries. To that extent that we have contributed in a manner where the trust deficit is getting reduced as part of the Confidence Building Measure," he said.
Though Islamabad promised to expedite action against the perpetrators of the November 26, 2008 attacks on Mumbai, it did not propose any timeline for the conclusion of the investigations, Krishna added.
During his meetings with Pakistan leadership, Krishna said his interactions with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani brought forth the desire on both sides to normalise relationship to bring peace and prosperity in the region.
He found a similar desire during his meetings with leaders of political parties, including MQM, ANPM and PML(N).
