By Manish Chand and Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : A fortnight before a likely meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Bhutan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said India can resume dialogue with Pakistan on all issues only if it takes “credible steps” to bring the known perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage to justice.
Underscoring India’s growing exasperation with lack of action by Pakistan against 26/11 terrorists, the prime minister stressed that there was no need to give more evidence about the complicity of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its founder Hafiz Saeed in the Mumbai carnage.
“We have said more than once that Pakistan, if it takes credible steps to bring the perpetrators of the horrible crime of 26/11 to book…” Manmohan Singh told journalists at the end of his four-day trip to the US.
“…that’s the minimum we expect from Pakistan and if Pakistan does that, we would be very happy to talk to them and beginning talking to them once again on all our issues,” he said.
Manmohan Singh said he ran into Gilani twice here on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, but clarified that there was no serious discussion beyond exchanging pleasantries.
Manmohan Singh was evasive when asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting with Gilani on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu April 28-29.
“Still there is time to think about the meeting in Bhutan. We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it,” was all Manmohan Singh would say, dimming the possibilities of any breakthrough in India-Pakistan relations in Thimphu.
Putting the onus on Pakistan for resuming dialogue that stalled after the Mumbai attacks, Manmohan Singh pointed out that “there are still people who are named as part of the conspirators, but are roaming around freely.” He added that this was buttressed by “not by our investigations and our intelligence but by the intelligence of our friendly countries.
“We would like Pakistan to at least bring all these perpetrators of these horrible crimes to book and do so effectively,” he stressed.
Against the backdrop of ten dossiers given by India to Pakistan linking Pakistani militants to various terror attacks in India, Manmohan Singh said New Delhi need not given “any further evidence” against the Lashkar-e Taiba, suspected to be mastermind behind the Mumbai carnage.
“So I do not think there is any need for me to produce additional evidence to Prime Minister Gilani about the role of the LeT, Hafiz Saeed, Ilyas Kashmiri and Zaki-ur Rehman are playing in fanning of terrorist acts directed against India.”
The prime minister stressed that the involvement of LeT and its operatives in 26/11 attacks was established by the American intelligence and American forces.
“I think Prime Minister Gilani – I would hate to enter into an argument with him in a press conference,” he said.
Manmohan Singh said he hoped that the issues raised by him in his discussions with Obama regarding continuing cross-border terror would “weigh considerably” on the US government.
Rejecting that he had taken “complaint” against Pakistan to Obama, he stressed that had to “explain” India’s perspective, which is an “open secret”, whenever anyone asks at meetings about the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. “The international opinion does matter,” he said.