VOA标准英语2010年-Terrorism to Dominate Agenda at Indo-P

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir speaks to media as his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, left, looks on before the start of a delegation¹ level meeting in New Delhi (file photo – 25 Feb 2010)

Terrorism is expected to top the agenda later this week when India and Pakistan's foreign ministers meet in Islamabad.

The meeting in Islamabad between India's and Pakistan's foreign ministers is the latest in a series of trust-building talks that resumed in February.

And again the focus is on terrorism. India blames the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008. Pakistani officials say India needs to get beyond its focus on Mumbai and move on to other issues –- notably² violence in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

 

Last month in Islamabad, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters that terror would not derail the dialogue.

"We must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improvement of relations between our two countries," she said.

Satish Chandra is a former Indian deputy national security adviser³. He says India's agenda is clear -- to get Pakistan to crack down on anti-Indian terrorist groups on its soil.

"A much harder approach to Pakistan is called for than the one we are adopting right now," Chandra said. "The mollycoddling⁴ has to stop."

Chandra says Pakistan's army has to root out elements that support terror planning against India.

"The Pakistan Army is enormously capable and they can act," he added. "But they do not wish to act because they regard these people as strategic assets."

Popular opinion in India matches Chandra's call for a harsher attitude toward Pakistan. Many Indians say it is only a matter of time before Pakistani-based terrorists strike India again.

But Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has consistently affirmed his commitment to Indo-Pakistani dialogue. And there's hope that better relations will lead to more trade.

Since the attacks on Mumbai, cabinet level commerce meetings between the two countries have stopped, and trade has fallen. 

The Federation⁵ of Indian Chambers⁶ of Commerce and Industry or FICCI reports that trade is down about 35 percent.

Manish Mohan is a joint⁷ director of the South Asia branch of FICCI. He says increased trade could directly improve peoples' lives in Pakistan.

"I will tell you the cost of pharmaceutical⁸ in Pakistan is 10 times what it is in India," Mohan said. "Why can't we supply those basic drugs and formulations to Pakistan? It makes sense for them to import it from India. And they are importing those things twice the price, five times the price from other countries."

Mohan says this could also offer a financial boost to Indian pharmaceutical suppliers.

 

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 mollycoddling   

v.娇养，宠坏( mollycoddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop mollycoddling me;I'm a grown person. 别再过分照料我了；我是一个大人了。 来自互联网

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。