Singh admitted that “There is a problem of trust deficit between” the two countries” and that India will “have to take adequate precautions” and “have to deal with whoever is in power in Pakistan” as “the destinies of the two countries are very-strongly inter-linked.” He said without peace between the two nations the “full development potential of the sub-continent cannot be realized.” For this to happen, Singh said that there must be “commitment of Pakistan to not to allow Pakistan territory and that includes parts of Jammu & Kashmir which is in their occupation to mount terrorist attacks against India ” although India is ready to discuss all issues including Kashmir .

Singh says that India has “given them substantial amount of evidence” to Pakistan and that “Pakistan sponsored terrorism has certainly been a fact of life” and “the fact that Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf signed the joint statement in 2004 was in a way a tacit recognition of the ground realities.” Asserting that he wanted “their solemn agreement to move forward in the reverse direction,” Singh said that he empathized with Pakistan as “incidents take place” there also and “ Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism.” Pointing out that “Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad…can act autonomously,” but said that the Indian experience is “that Pakistan government has not done enough to control these elements.”

Singh sees Indo-Pakistan to have “moved very considerably over the last two years” with “Transportation routes…opened up not only between the two parts of Jammu & Kashmir but also between our Punjab and their Punjab .” He said that only two years ago, “we would allow Hurriyat” to “travel freely wherever they wanted to go” but now India has matured to allow them to go in “all directions.” Also, “People of both countries including the two-parts of Jammu & Kashmir are meeting frequently to discuss possibilities of cooperation.” Therefore, “it’s correct to say that no progress has been made” and although both countries “have been discussing various issues at part of the composite dialogue” they “should move forward.” However, Singh suggested that “this terrorism will surely act as a damper” and he simply “can’t carry the Indian public opinion” if “terrorist acts continue to plague our polity.”

The basic content of the script that Singh will discuss with Musharraf is right. Instead of refusing to meet Pakistani officials, India should meet and demand a timeframe by which they can bring terrorism from the land they control down. India should also propose joint border patrols, coordinated raids on militant camps, and sharing actionable intelligence and if Pakistan is sincere about curbing terrorism within its borders, it will accept. The revival of the Foreign Secretary level talks must be the forum where the details of such a deal could be hammered out