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The October assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be Pakistan's "biggest acid test", newly appointed Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after taking charge of his office in South Block, the minister said Pakistan will have to prove that it is worthy of India's trust.
Asserting that India wanted peace with Pakistan, Singh, who had held the same portfolio 11 years back, said New Delhi has repeatedly been betrayed by Pakistan.
Recalling Lahore and Agra summits, Singh said while India had made all efforts to usher in peace, it now depends on Pakistan to translate on the ground the commitments made by it to permanently end cross-border infiltration.
Singh discounted suggestions that there could be a change in the foreign policy with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh swapping posts with Finance Minister Yaswant Sinha.
"Foreign policy is a continuous process based on national interests. No government can compromise on it," he said.
On India's policy towards its neighbours, Singh, who has been shifted from railways to the present post, said the government wanted good and peaceful relations with all its neighbours including China.
On the possibility of a dialogue with Pakistan, the minister said India would not hold any dialogue with Islamabad till it stopped sponsoring violence in J&K and other parts of the country.
PTI
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