News
Monday, July 18, 2011
Blasts cloud India’s talks with Pakistan, US* Indian home minister says all groups hostile to India on radar
NEW DELHI: Triple blasts in Mumbai last week have cast a shadow over the imminent visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to New Delhi and a new round of India-Pakistan peace talks later this month.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombs that killed 19 and injured more than 100, and the initial police investigation has failed to unearth any clear leads.
Briefing reporters about the investigation, Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram cast the net of suspicion as wide as it would go in a deliberate effort to avoid pointing the finger at Pakistan.
“All groups hostile to India are on the radar,” he said.
The involvement of a Pakistan-based group would instantly thrust relations between New Delhi and Islamabad back into the deep freeze, just as the nuclear-armed neighbours are about to restart a faltering peace process.
“It is too early to know because the investigations can go in any direction,” Brahma Chellaney of the New Delhi-based Centre of Policy Research think-tank, said.
“But if the investigations throw up cross-border links then that will queer the pitch for the talks,” he said.
For Clinton, any Pakistani involvement would again see her under pressure to drop US military support for Islamabad during her talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Last week, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna welcomed Washington’s decision to suspend $800 million worth of aid to Pakistan.
“Counter-terrorism has always been part of our strategic dialogue,” an Indian foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Clinton said last week that it was “more important than ever that we stand with India” and she reaffirmed her “commitment to the shared struggle against terrorism.”
Robert Hathaway, director of the Asia programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC, said the latest attacks in Mumbai “will inevitably colour Secretary Clinton’s visit.”
“I think, as the Indians are to be commended for doing, we want to avoid jumping to a conclusion until we simply have more information into who is responsible for these deeds.” afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk