India continues to have "serious concerns" over the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan and its implications on this country, government has said but noted that bilateral ties had witnessed growth in other areas.
The government underlined that the joint Anti-Terror Mechanism, which was set up to address the problem of cross-border terrorism two years back, could be a useful instrument "if implemented effectively".
In its annual report released on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs notes that the dialogue process, which began in 2004, is premised on the commitment given by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] on January 6, 2004, not to permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner.
"India continues to have serious concerns on the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan and its cross-border and other implications for us," the report for 2007-08 said.
The report assumes significance as it was released less than a month ahead of resumption of composite dialogue, which was stalled for about six months.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart on May 21.
The MEA report, however, points out that the bilateral ties had witnessed "robust" growth, which was illustrated by the fact that the turnover has almost doubled from Rs 3846.45 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 7563.49 crore.
This high rate of growth is being maintained in 2007-08 also, it said, noting that bilateral trade between April and October 2007 was Rs 4598.46 crore.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|