ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 29 (UPI) -- India has said the main focus of the official-level talks with Pakistan, which began Tuesday, will be terrorism.
"The main agenda for the talks is addressing the problem of terrorism and all related issues," said Indian Interior Secretary Vinod Kumar Duggal, who is currently in Pakistan for talks with his Pakistani counterpart. "We will also discuss the drug and narcotics trade and all its related issues."
Duggal pointed out that after the last talks, in New Delhi, he and his Pakistani counterpart met at the sidelines of the Dhaka summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation last November and had taken the discussions forward in an amiable manner.
"We have our sights on building a good foundation for our future generation. Can terrorism do any good for anyone? Do they (terrorists) have any nationality?" he asked.
The Hindu newspaper said Tuesday that after the increase in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and concern over the expanding network of militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba across India, it was expected that India would use the opportunity of these talks to raise the issue of cross-border terrorism.
Duggal said considerable progress had been made at the New Delhi meeting on issues such as the exchange of prisoners, cooperation on combating the trade in drugs and narcotics and on the exchange of information between India's Central Bureau of Investigation and Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency.
The two sides hoped to build on the progress, he said, adding: "We hope to sign a memorandum of understanding soon on narcotics control cooperation. It has already been cleared by Pakistan."
