New Delhi - New Delhi on Friday conveyed to Pakistan that bilateral relations were under "considerable stress" and asked the neighbouring country to fulfil its pledge of not allowing its territory to be used for terrorist activities against India. In the second high-level meeting between the countries following the Mumbai attacks, India's External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the margins of the G8 Outreach meeting in the Italian coastal city of Trieste.
In reference to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg June 16, Krishna reminded Qureshi about Islamabad's pledge of not allowing its territory to be used for anti-India activities.
"These (relations) have remained under considerable stress and the primary cause of this is the terrorist attacks on India, by elements based in Pakistan," Krishna said in a statement released by the Indian Foreign Office following the talks.
He said Qureshi and he agreed, however, that there was vast potential which existed in India-Pakistan ties.
"I conveyed the sentiments of our prime minister that we stand ready to meet Pakistan more than half way to utilize and harness that potential for our mutual benefit," Krishna said.
Underscoring Singh's message to Zardari in Russia, Krishna stressed on the importance of addressing the central issue of cross- border terrorism which has plagued ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
"At the same time, we have to address centrally why our relations come under stress recurrently," he said.
Relations between the South Asian neighbours hit a low after the attacks on Mumbai that killed 164 people and left nine of the 10 militants dead. The gunmen belonged to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e- Taiba militant outfit.
Krishna and Qureshi also discussed possible dates for the forthcoming meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries to review the actions Islamabad has taken against anti-India terrorist outfits. No final dates were however fixed.
Meanwhile, India and the US on Friday discussed the strengthening of cooperation in countering terrorism and the situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region when US National Security Adviser James L. Jones called on Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi.
Jones arrived in Delhi on a two-day visit Thursday evening after a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In his meeting with Jones, Singh conveyed India's security concerns about the continuing terrorist threat from Pakistan, officials said.
Jones, reiterated the US commitment to expanding cooperation with India in countering terrorism to ensure that another Mumbai-like attack is not repeated in India, said the sources.
The two sides discussed the agenda for the forthcoming visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India, due late July.
In talks with Indian officials, Jones emphasized the Obama administration's desire to enhance Washington's ties with India and focused on implementing the landmark civil nuclear agreement inked between the two countries last year.
