The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan, Gilani meeting today

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Thursday, Apr 29, 2010
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Manmohan, Gilani meeting today

Sandeep Dikshit

India has not accepted Pakistan's offer on composite dialogue

New Delhi feels Islamabad has not done enough to book all those responsible for Mumbai attacks
It is unhappy with freedom allowed in Pakistan to some of the masterminds

THIMPHU: The much awaited India-Pakistan summit-level meeting between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will take place, on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, here on Thursday evening, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash announced here on Wednesday.

India has not accepted Pakistan's offer of resuming the composite dialogue, as it feels that Islamabad has not done enough to bring to book all those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks. The media here speculated what else Dr. Singh would convey to Mr. Gilani, but senior officials have declined to confirm these reports.

The issue became complicated recently when Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik upped the ante, asking India to send its magistrates handling the Kasab case to testify in a Lahore court. Barely a few days earlier, he said the government was confident of securing the conviction of most of the seven accused and all it required from India were the statements Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman, made in a Mumbai court.

India has expressed its unhappiness over the freedom of movement allowed in Pakistan to some of the masterminds of 26/11. It feels that the Pakistan government must show its earnestness by rounding up all those involved; only then could both sides pick up the threads of the composite dialogue, which was a casualty of the Mumbai attacks.

New Delhi also wants Islamabad to guarantee it that there will be no repeat of such attacks on the Indian soil by non-state actors based in Pakistan, and dismantling of the anti-India terror infrastructure, mostly operating in Punjab, Pakistan, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. However, the Pakistan government and its security agencies have shied away from such an assurance, indicating instead that the two sides should discuss across the table the threats posed to each other's security by non-state actors.

India has documented instances of the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in terror attacks in the country, and on its mission in Kabul. Islamabad too accuses New Delhi of meddling in Baluchistan and Swat but has not given any evidence so far to India or the U.S. to back its claims.

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