New Delhi, Feb. 7: India today said that while Pakistan had not unravelled the larger conspiracy behind 26/11 or brought terror ideologues like Hafiz Saeed to justice, its move to investigate the attack and start the trial of some of the plotters were reasons enough for Delhi’s offer to resume talks.

Delhi has suggested February 18 and 25 as possible dates for the foreign secretary-level talks, and awaits Pakistan’s reply.

A highly placed source in the government said India was ever vigilant despite the resumption offer.

“Another terrorist attack will be a huge setback to the dialogue process,” said a source. At the same time, he stressed that dialogue was the only option to resolve differences. There is also a realisation that Pakistani people have suffered as much from terrorism. “We are only offering them (Pakistan) a talk line, not a lifeline... our concerns on terror remain… they can’t keep throwing their hands in air to say they are helpless,” the source said.

Delhi maintains that terrorism will be a core concern, but all issues can be discussed. “We need to talk to each other rather than at or past each other,” said the source. Most of the people involved in 26/11 are in custody in Pakistan, the source said, but added Pakistan needs to do more.

Government sources tried to dispel an impression that the talks offer had come out of the blue and under US pressure. The foreign secretaries — Nirupama Rao and Pakistan’s Salman Bashir — were in touch since last September.

Rao had made the talks offer in end-January, within a week of new national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon taking over. Menon was the architect of the Sharm-el-Sheikh declaration of July 2009.

India has not ruled out discussing Afghanistan. Its willingness to also put Balochistan — the Pakistan province where Islamabad accuses India of fomenting insurgency and which was included in the Sharm-el-Sheikh declaration — on the table reflects its confidence. “We can say with conviction we have done nothing untoward in Balochistan,” the source said.