India, Pak. anti-terror mechanism meets next month

New Delhi, Sept. 18 (PTI): India is likely to raise the issue of the recent Hyderabad blasts with Pakistan when the joint terror mechanism meeting will be held here on October 22.

The second round of Indo-Pak Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism will be held on October 22, an External Affairs Ministry statement said here.

Meetings on conventional and nuclear confidence building measures will be held on October 18 and 19 respectively, it said.

Investigators suspect involvement of terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the August 25 explosions in Hyderabad in which 44 people were killed and several others injured.

Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the Hyderabad blasts, was reportedly killed in Karachi on August 30, and Indian officials are expected to raise the issue in the discussions considering that the ATM has been established for coordination between the two countries on fighting terrorism.

The Indian side will be represented by K C Singh, Additional Secretary (International Organisations) in the External Affairs Ministry.

The second meeting, which should have taken place in June, had been delayed as Pakistan's pointsman for the discussions - Tariq Osman Haider - Additional Secretary in the Foreign Ministry, had retired.

The developments in Pakistan, including the Lal Masjid incident and the sacking of the Chief Justice of Pakistan is also understood to have been the reason behind the delay in finalising dates for the talks.

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