London: Reflecting a subtle shift in nuance, India has relaxed its pre-conditions for holding a political summit between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali but insisted that for the dialogue to succeed it is essential that cross border terrorism comes to an end.

"India has relaxed its pre-conditions for holding a summit between Prime Minister Vajpayee and Prime Minister Jamali. But for the dialogue to succeed, it is essential that cross-border terrorism comes to an end," External Afffairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said in an interview to British daily 'Financial Times'.

Asked about the slow pace of normalising Indo-Pak ties, Sinha said, "This process should not be seen in terms of deadlines. Pakistan has not set a timeframe and India has not set a time frame. We both need to give each other a chance."

New Delhi has been earlier sticking to the line that talks could be resumed only after Pakistan stopped permanently cross-border terrorism and dismantled terrorist infrastructure.

Making it clear that India's insistence on end to cross-border terrorism was not a pre-condition for resumption of dialogue, he said, "If this was a pre-condition, then the Prime Minister would not have extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan last month."

To a question, the minister said, "When you are talking of a roadmap, we are clear in our minds what steps must be taken both in regard to restoring normalcy and in regard to the dialogue process."

PTI