New Delhi, February 04: Home minister P Chidambaram is set to travel to Pakistan — the first visit by an Indian minister since the stalling of the composite dialogue in 2008 — for the Saarc home ministers’ conference, scheduled from February 25 to 27 in Islamabad.
The decision of the minister to travel to Islamabad came amid indications that a cost-benefit analysis was being undertaken by the government over starting a limited dialogue with the neighbour.
Sources said Mr Chidambaram would use the occasion to gauge Islamabad’s anti-terror intentions. External affairs minister S M Krishna told journalists accompanying him to Kuwait that Mr Chidambaram could “get a chance to have useful exchanges” with Pakistani leaders.
The government has, of late, been maintaining that talks cannot be frozen for perpetuity. In his interaction with journalists, Mr Krishna said “any step forward in the direction of investigating the Mumbai attacks case will certainly make it easier for India to carry our normalisation of business with Pakistan.”
Security experts agree that the Saarc event will be yet another platform for India to put pressure on Pakistan to take appropriate action against the 26/11 conspirators on its soil and unveil the real masterminds behind such terror acts. The proposed delegation to be led by Mr Chidambaram would include home secretary G K Pillai, Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur and two other senior officials from MEA and MHA.
A bilateral meeting with Pakistan is not ruled out during Mr Chidambaram’s visit. These talks will, however, be limited to reminding Pakistan of its commitment to dismantle the terror infrastructure on its soil and bring the 26/11 conspirators to justice, besides sharing with India evidence such as voice samples of the Mumbai attack accused in its custody.
The voice samples are crucial to 26/11 investigations as it will help establish if the accused arrested by Pakistani agencies are the ones who were guiding the Mumbai assault team during the attacks.
With strong indications that one of the persons in touch with Kasab and company was an Indian, Pakistan’s FIA could help in establishing his identity through interrogation of the LeT men in its custody, including Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah. India, in its set of dossiers handed over to Pakistan on the 26/11 case, has sought access to the accused held there.
Not only has Pakistan denied India access to the conspirators, but it has also turned down our repeated requests for action against the 26/11 architect, Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, citing lack of enough evidence against him. He remains a free bird and continues to make public appearances — the latest being a Kashmir solidarity conference being organised by JuD in Islamabad on Friday.
——–Agencies