Washington, April 13: US President Barack Obama today asked Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice, saying this action would be a positive thing in improving Indo-Pak ties.
Raising the issue of Mumbai attack directly with Gilani at his meeting, barely two hours after his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Obama said the Indian leader was sincere in improving ties with Pakistan but wants it to take action against those responsible for 26/11. 166 persons were killed in the Mumbai attack in November 2008.
“Terrorist onslaught in our region, if it persisted, could affect our growth prospects,” Manmohan Singh told Obama at their first meeting since they met at the first state dinner of the Obama presidency in November last year.
Obama also did not commit for any civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan on the lines of the Indo-US atomic pact.
During the meeting, the US President is understood to have spoken on his desire to have an improved Indo-Pak relationship arguing that he believes that this would have a positive impact on the overall situation in the region.
Noting that both India and Pakistan are sovereign nations, Obama felt that improvement in Indo-Pak relationship is beneficial to both of them.
“Obama said he feels that Prime Minister Singh is sincere in his desire to engage Pakistan, but he (Singh) wants Pakistan to move against those responsible for the Mumbai attacks,” said a source referring to the deliberations between the two delegations for about 40 minutes at the Blair House.
Obama is believed to have said that he also personally believes that Pakistan taking action against those responsible for the Mumbai attack “would be a positive thing”, sources said.
Gilani replied in the affirmative when asked by reporters whether some action can be expected from Pakistan now that Obama is pressing it to bring those behind Mumbai attack to justice.
“Certainly,” Gilani said, adding “I am against terrorism and always of the opinion that those who are the culprit they should be brought to justice.”
The sources said there was no commitment to the Pakistani leader when Gilani pitched for a civilian nuclear deal with the US on the lines of that of India to meet its acute energy needs.
Access to Headley
In his 50-minute meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday at Blair House, the presidential guest house, Obama had said he was “fully supportive” of India’s request for access to Headley.
“He (Obama) was fully supportive of our request for provision of such access,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told journalists here after the talks.
–Agencies