Enough of talks, act against terror, India to tell Pakistan

By IANS,

Tehran: “Enough of talk, act against terror; we have given you the evidence” will be the message conveyed to Islamabad when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit here, an official said Tuesday.


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“The prime minister might not exactly use those words but that will be the message conveyed,” the Indian official said.

“Terror can’t be solved by talks. Pakistan will have to work. We will have to work to make it impossible for terror to hit us,” the official said of the key issue that is likely to figure at the Manmohan-Zardari talks that are expected to take place Thursday.

The comments came even as the foreign ministers of the two countries were attending a ministerial meeting here ahead of the Aug 30-31 NAM Summit.

According to the official: “We have shown that (the 26/11) Mumbai (attack) has connections in Pakistan’s official hierarchy. We have shown a willingness to go after the truth. We haven’t just used words.”

“And what has Pakistan done? Changed judges, allowed suspects to use cellphones in jails. You know, the world knows, where the truth lies. There is a difference in how the Indian state reacts. You have the evidence if you wish to work on it,” the official added.

He noted in this context, that India had got a verdict “in an open and free trial” that ended in the conviction of Ajmal Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive in the wake of the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terror attack that claimed 166 lives and injured many more.

“You have all the evidence that led to the conviction. This is a no brainer. No one can say it was not a fair, open and free trial,” the official said, cautioning that it would be “easy” for Pakistan to “start forgetting” about 26/11.

The perpetrators of the crime “are perhaps counting on this”, the official added.

India has provided a series of dossiers to Pakistan on the involvement of individuals like Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafeez Saeed in the Mumbai attack. This has been reinforced by the interrogation of Abu Jindal, a terror suspect extradited from Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

While some key LeT operatives like Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi are in Pakistani jails, Islamabad says the evidence furnished by India is not “actionable”.

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