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Friday, July 06, 2012
Indo-Pak foreign secretaries’ talks endPakistan denies role in Mumbai attacks
* Foreign Secretary Jilani says accusing each other will be of no benefit
* Mathai says bringing to justice those guilty of Mumbai carnage will be the biggest CBM
NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Thursday strongly rejected suggestions that any of its state agencies was involved in acts of terrorism in India, at the conclusion of the two countries’ foreign secretaries talks.
The two sides ended two days of peace talks with vows to keep their dialogue on track despite renewed tensions over the alleged role of Pakistani “state actors” in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani covered terrorism, confidence-building measures and the South Asian rivals’ core territorial dispute over divided Kashmir.
The two top civil servants in their respective ministries said they would meet again in Islamabad to pave the way for foreign minister-level talks in September. The talks in New Delhi were clouded by charges arising from India’s recent arrest of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, suspected of being a key handler for the Mumbai attackers who killed 166 people in India’s financial capital.
India says Ansari has admitted helping to coordinate the deadly assault from a command post in Karachi, and his testimony has renewed Indian accusations that “state elements” in Pakistan were involved. At a joint news conference, Jilani insisted the charge was baseless. “I would very strongly reject any insinuation of any involvement of any state agency in acts of terrorism in India,” Jilani said. “If we keep accusing each other, that will be of no benefit, and we will not find any result,” he added.
His remarks were a response to specific allegations levelled on Wednesday – as the foreign secretary talks began – by Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram who argued that Ansari’s evidence could only lead to one conclusion. “It is no longer possible to deny that though the incident happened in Mumbai, there was a control room in Pakistan before and during the incident,” Chidambaram said. “It is clear that (Pakistani) state actors were there,” he added.
Pakistan has indicted seven people for their alleged role in the Mumbai attacks but their trial, which began in 2009, has been beset by delays. Addressing Thursday’s news conference, Mathai stressed that bringing those guilty for the Mumbai carnage to justice “would be the biggest confidence-building measure of all”. “We shall pursue this matter to its logical conclusion,” he said of the Indian investigation into Ansari’s testimony.
Jilani repeated an offer to jointly investigate the attacks, but also rejected repeated accusations by Indian officials that Pakistan’s security agencies were involved. India has specifically called for Pakistan to handover Lashkar-e-Tayyaba founder Hafiz Saeed, whom it considers the attack mastermind, and who the US has announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Pakistan has so far rejected the call.
“The talks were held in a frank and constructive atmosphere. Both sides reiterated their desire to carry forward the dialogue process in a purposeful and result-oriented manner,” a joint statement issued after the talks said. Jilani insisted that nothing should be allowed to prevent the peace process going forward. “There should be absolutely no setback, because a setback is something we cannot afford,” he said. The two sides agreed to press on with talks aimed at normalising relations.
The foreign secretaries also reviewed the ongoing implementation of the already adopted nuclear and conventional CBMs. It was decided that separate meetings of the Expert Level Groups on nuclear and conventional CBMs would be held to discuss implementation and strengthening of the existing CBMs. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk