By IANS,
New Delhi : Even as a new government is in the process of being formed in New Delhi, India Wednesday sent a clear message to Pakistan to bring the Mumbai attackers to justice by handing over more information on the Nov 26-29, 2008 carnage that claimed over 170 lives.
The external affairs ministry handed over to a diplomat of the Pakistan high commission additional information and details relating to the Mumbai terror attack sought by Islamabad, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
The additional information consisted of the confessional statement of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist captured alive during the three-day siege and DNA samples of the Mumbai terrorists New Delhi alleges are members of Pakistan-based militant outfits.
The move by New Delhi comes days after the ruling Congress party won a fresh mandate that will enable it to deal with security issues in the neighbourhood with greater authority and decisiveness.
It is also a message to Pakistan to speed up the prosecution of the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, which froze the bilateral dialogue between the two countries.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was among the first few leaders to ring up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to congratulate him on his party’s victory in the elections.
Zardari had said that he was looking forward to resuming dialogue with India after a new government was in place in New Delhi. And, in the first-ever such statement by a Pakistani leader, Zardari also said recently that India was not a threat to Pakistan, taking many by surprise in his own country.
Manmohan Singh has, however, made it clear that the dialogue process won’t be resumed till Pakistan brings the Mumbai culprits to justice.
Last month, Pakistan had posed more queries in response to a second dossier furnished by India to reinforce the the involvement of Pakistan-based militants in the Mumbai attacks. New Delhi agreed to provide more information, but made it clear that it was a stonewalling tactic as there was enough evidence to prosecute the attackers.
Last month, Islamabad had alleged it had received “identical” DNA reports on two of the 10 attackers. New Delhi attributed this to an administrative error.
India has also furnished information about the SIM cards used by the attackers and the GPS coordinates they relied on.
India had in January submitted a detailed dossier on the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Mumbai attacks.
In February, Pakistan posed a set of 30 questions to which India had replied in March.