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ISLAMABAD: India on Thursday thanked Pakistan for the facilitation it had provided in the Sarabjit Singh case, at a time when Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi has ordered a judicial inquiry to fix responsibility for the murder of the Indian death row prisoner.
In Delhi Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid told the media that as far as future relations with Pakistan were concerned, I think it is a big question that in coming days we will have to examine and see how do we work.
At the Foreign Office Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jillani told The News: My Indian counterpart Ranjan Mathai telephoned me and thanked me for all the help we provided to them ever since the death row Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked till the time we facilitated the arrival of a special Indian aircraft to fly back Singhs body to India.
In the late afternoon Jillani was personally following the procedure including giving instructions for allowing for the arrival of the special Indian aircraft to take back Singhs body.
This telephone call from New Delhi to Jillani and statements coming from Indian TV quoting the Ministry of External Affairs saying India and Pakistan are wedded to bilateralism and we will follow this pattern and ruling out internationalising Sarabjit Singhs case , is being seen by diplomats here as a sign of maturity between the two sides.
India knows that it was not Pakistan that was behind the attack on Singh and though it was a condemnable act, the government did move in very quickly in an exercise of damage control, says one diplomat.
Spokesman at the Foreign Office giving more details about the telephone call said: The telephone call from the Indian foreign secretary was to thank us for a series of prompt actions to facilitate medical treatment, consular access to Indian officials, visa and other facilitation for his family and expeditious processing of permissions for repatriation of the body. He also thanked us for our assistance and facilitation on humanitarian grounds.
Sethi, according to media reports from Lahore, said in a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal that a judicial inquiry will fix responsibility for the murder and immediate action will be taken after that.
Police Thursday added murder charges to an FIR registered against two death row prisoners Amer Aftab and Mudassar booked for attacking Sarabjit.
Sethi said: I believe in a peaceful relationship with India as people-to-people contacts will help improve relations between the two countries.
He said both countries need to fight poverty and direct their energies towards economic progress of the people.
Earlier, the spokesman at the Foreign Office said: Sarabjit Singh, who was hospitalised on Friday, April 26, following injuries sustained during a scuffle with fellow inmates, expired at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. The prisoner, who had been in a comatose state and on a ventilator for the last few days, was being provided best treatment available and the medical staff at Jinnah Hospital had been working round the clock since his hospitalisation to save his life. However, despite their best efforts, they could not save him and Sarabjit Singh passed away due to cardiac arrest.
The Government of Pakistan, which had been providing all assistance to the family of Sarabjit Singh as well as to the Indian authorities since the occurrence of this unfortunate incident, will continue to facilitate early completion of all formalities and hand over the mortal remains of the prisoner to the Indian High Commission at the earliest possible.
Earlier Khurshid commented on the human element of the cost of hostility between the two countries.
For the present, I can only say that it is a terrible psychological and emotional setback to all of us and I believe to what we have been trying to do in terms of creating greater cohesion between people of India and people of Pakistan, he told the media.
Khurshid said: Governments can sometimes disagree, governments can sometimes sit together and talk but a sustainable and long-lasting relationship has to be between people and I think that today has been very, very sadly, in a very distressing manner, that is a relationship that has been hurt by this terrible tragedy.
The Indian minister said: I hope that this terrible event and this tragedy will contribute something to at least the understanding of the human element of the cost of hostility between our two countries.
India thanks Pakistan for help in Sarabjit case - thenews.com.pk