'External considerations' may undermine India-Pakistan talks: Daily

The talks between India and Pakistan should not be held keeping only "external considerations" in mind as they "can undermine the possibilities of a (meaningful) dialogue", a daily said on Monday.

"It has been speculated that the nascent India-Pakistan rapprochement has been made possible by outside diplomacy, particularly by the US," an editorial in Dawn said.

The daily said the attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot "should not delay talks as it is clearly the most immediate issue that needs to be resolved - between India and Pakistan themselves".

"High-level diplomacy and serious intelligence cooperation are the urgent needs right now. Rather than leaving it up to India to provide all the details available to it, there should be an independent investigation inside Pakistan too," the editorial maintained.

The daily said that "given the vast counterterrorism dragnet that has been thrown across the country in the fight against militancy, it should not be too difficult for the security and intelligence apparatus to establish the facts".

"Presumably, senior US officials also reached out to stress that dialogue should not be derailed and to seek Pakistan's cooperation in the Pathankot investigation."

"The unhappy truth is that the Pathankot attack has once again displayed the potential of terrorism to hold the Pakistan-India relationship hostage. If historical disputes and issues between the two countries are ever to be solved, it cannot happen while terrorism finds it so easy to intervene," the editorial said.