By P. Karunakharan, IANS,
Colombo : Holding a secretary-level meeting with Pakistan for the first time after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, India Thursday urged its neighbour to do more to bring the perpetrators to book and “take credible action to dismantle the resources of terrorists”.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on the sidelines of the 36th session of the SAARC Standing Committee in Colombo. He conveyed India’s firm stance with regard to the Mumbai attack and insisted on the need for “some positive results”.
This is the first time after the Mumbai attacks in November last year – in which over 170 people were killed and which India blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists – that secretary-level talks have taken place between the two countries on bilateral ties.
“We have recognised what Pakistan has done, but there is a lot more to be done. We need to see them moving forward,” Menon told Colombo-based Indian journalists.
“They should bring the Mumbai attack perpetrators and take credible actions to dismantle the resources of the terrorist in their own county,” he said.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigative Agency has filed charges against eight men suspected to be involved in the Mumbai attacks. Six of them have been arrested. The seventh is Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the terror strikes, while the eighth is still at large.
“We need some positive results. It is not an easy situation. We will judge (Pakistan) by what they do,” he said.
Asked whether the foreign ministers of both the countries would meet in Colombo on the sidelines of the Inter-Summit Sessions of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers’ meeting, Menon said: “Nothing has been decided so far”.
He said India knew that Pakistan has started a legal process, while India has started one on its own, stressing that India has no problem with the people of Pakistan.
“We are obviously in a new phase of relationship after Mumbai attack, though we kept our dialogue going. For us the Mumbai attack has changed the situation entirely,” he said.
“There is a civilian government and they need to demonstrate,” Menon said.