When Terrorism Was Left Unaddressed in Talks With Pakistan

In March 2013, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid confirmed that terrorism was not raised during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Raja Pervez Ashraf, on the sidelines of the ECO summit in Islamabad.

The acknowledgement was politically significant. Since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, cross-border terrorism had remained the principal obstacle in India-Pakistan relations. India's longstanding position had been that any serious movement towards normalisation required credible Pakistani action against Lashkar-e-Taiba and its leadership, including Hafiz Saeed.

Khurshid's statement drew prompt criticism from the opposition, which contended that the UPA government was advancing diplomatic engagement without adequately pressing India's foremost security concern. The government's implicit position, however, appeared to be that sustained dialogue remained the most prudent avenue towards eventual stability.

The meeting yielded language reaffirming commitment to a "peaceful and stable" region. No substantive progress on cross-border terrorism followed.