Pentagon's report an endorsement of India's long held position on Pak: Saran

Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran on Wednesday said the recent Pentagon report on Islamabad using militants as proxies against India is an endorsement of the long held position of New Delhi, and added that this would ultimately help in dealing with the challenge.

"What Pentagon has done is only to endorse what we have been saying for quite some time," Saran said while commenting on the Pentagon report which accuses Pakistan of using militants as proxies against India.

When asked as to how can India leverage such a report, the former foreign secretary said, "Our view has been you cannot really deal with this phenomenon of terrorism only as an India-Pakistan problem. So, if there is a recognition that this is not only an India-Pakistan problem, but it has a wider ramification, that is of use to us."

"This is precisely what we have been saying, because for us to deal this issue on our own is difficult. But if we are able to mobilise some kind of international co-operation with major countries like the United Sates (U.S) then of course, naturally it strengthens our ability to deal with this challenge," Saran added.

When asked whether this could in any way have an effect on the bilateral relations with Pakistan, Saran said that he looked at it from another point of view.

"Say the blasts which took place near the Wagah border, many people believe that it was targeted against India, I would say it was much more targeted against the Pakistan Government. So, if this experience leads Pakistani authorities, Pakistani Army to come to the realization that really the threat to Pakistan's security doesn't comes from across the border, but actually is from forces which are at work within Pakistan itself," Saran said.

"As soon as that recognition comes, then I would imagine that there would be a much better basis on which India and Pakistan can co-operate together," he added.

When asked will it help India's case by putting sanctions and tightening the noose around Pakistan, Saran said, "This is for the United States of America to decide, how to deal with this. We have always said that international terrorism is not only India's problem. You know to look at some of these issues only from the prism of India-Pakistan relations is not correct."

"So, terrorism is an international challenge, and unless there is very strong co-operation amongst the countries of the world, including the United States of America, in dealing with this challenge we will not succeed. Because, actually what you see today happening is, that the forces which are on the other side seem to be far better networked, seem to have far greater co-operation amongst themselves than the states and governments....," he added.

The former foreign secretary also parried questions on whether he foresees any talks between two heads of governments from India and Pakistan during the SAARC Summit due towards the end of this month.

"SAARC is just another corner, do you think the recent report and what is happening right now, the turn of events, do you think they should meet and talk," he said.

"How can I answer a question like that, I do not know what is happening with respect to any kind of... dialogue formal or informal already taking place. I think it is a judgement call as far as the Indian leadership is concerned, whether or not on the SAARC platform it is worthwhile to have this kind of a meeting or not. I presume that an assessment will be made, what are the pros and cons and the right decision will be taken, let's leave it at that," he added.