LoC incident raised doubts about Pakistan's sincerity: Indian Envoy

Islamabad:India on Tuesday said recent developments on the LoC raised “doubts on Pakistan’s sincerity” and stressed the need for both countries to forge a common policy for combating terrorism.

India's position was conveyed to Pakistan by High Commissioner T C A Raghavan during a courtesy call on Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

Apparently referring to the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops last month, Raghavan said he viewed the incident on the Line of Control (LoC) as a “setback” to the bilateral dialogue process.

While there is a feeling in India to continue to engage with Pakistan, “incidents such as the recent one on the LoC raised doubts on Pakistan’s sincerity”, he said.

Raghavan said “both countries needed to work towards forging a common policy on combating terrorism that would help in allaying many misperceptions that existed”, according to a statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office.

The upcoming visit to India by a Pakistani judicial commission investigating the Mumbai attacks will be “helpful towards this end”, he said.

Bilateral ties took a hit when five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack by Pakistani troops on the Indian side of the LoC on August 6.

During the meeting, Aziz stressed the importance of resuming the bilateral dialogue process.

Reiterating Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to normalising relations with India, Aziz said there was great hope within the Pakistan government of picking up the threads from the Lahore Declaration of 1999 and embarking on a “new phase of Pakistan-India relations”.

“The tension along the LoC seemed to have derailed this process which was unfortunate,” Aziz was quoted as saying.

He said he believed the Indian media’s “over-reaction to the LoC incident” had not helped. He felt both sides had to show maturity and move forward in a positive manner to resolve outstanding issues and put in place a sustainable dialogue process.

This was the first meeting between the two top officials since Raghavan assumed office.

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