Ahead of Thursday's Foreign Secretary-level talks, India has sent a clear message to Pakistan to the effect that the process of normalization of relations between the two neighbors can be sustained only if Islamabad takes effective action against groups in that Islamic country calling for "jihad" (religious war) against it (India).
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Monday that calls for jihad, hostility and aggression continued to be made openly against India, reflecting the real and tangible difficulties that India was facing in dealing with Pakistan.
Delivering the keynote address at the Third International Institute of Strategic Studies-MEA Dialogue in New Delhi, she emphasized that "effective action against such groups" by Pakistan was an "absolute must" if normalization that India desired to have with Pakistan was to come about.
The Indian Foreign Secretary noted that India had repeatedly taken initiatives to improve its relations with Pakistan, and was making "another sincere attempt" to initiate dialogue. As a sequel, she said, it was essential that Islamabad cracked down on anti-India militant groups and got rid of the terror infrastructure in that country.
On her forthcoming talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, she said they would be restricted to India's "core concerns" over cross-border terrorism, but New Delhi would move slowly and deliberately on all issues.
"We hope we can build, in a graduated manner, better communication and a serious and responsive dialogue to address issues of concern between our two countries," she added.
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December 26, 2025 08:42 ET Third quarter economic growth data from some major economies including the U.S. were the main news in this holiday shortened week. GDP growth and industrial production data from the U.S. helped to boost morale, while the consumer confidence survey results were less upbeat. In Europe, the quarterly economic growth data from the U.K. drew attention, while the minutes of the Australian central bank’s latest policy session was in focus in Asia.