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NEW DELHI: India refused to issue a joint statement with Pakistan at the end of interior minister Rehman Malik's three-day visit, a public protest against the provocations of the visiting Pakistani minister which set the peace process backwards, negating the very objective of the meeting.
Though a joint press conference by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Pakistani counterpart was ruled out at the very outset on account of Parliament being in session, the two sides had agreed to issue a joint statement.
Officials in the home ministry were, in fact, working on a draft until the ceaseless needling led India to decide that enough was enough. The last minute decision was a vivid illustration of India's annoyance over Malik's conduct which widened the trust deficit and reinforced India's suspicions that Pakistan was not sincere when it promised to punish the perpetrators of 26/11.
However, the bitter taste left by Malik's controversial remarks - wherein he mentioned 26/11 and Babri demolition in the same breath and also indicated that Kargil martyr Saurabh Kalia may have succumbed to inclement weather - led India to do away with a joint statement. The fact that this was a last-minute decision, taken after much prodding of Malik's delegation to act on India's demands in the 26/11 case, was clear when home ministry officials were asked to work on Sunday in anticipation of a positive response from Pakistan.
In fact, even before they decided against the joint statement, India made its disgust plain. Shinde, whom Malik had stunned into silence by raking up Babri, reportedly told the Pakistani visitor during one-on-one talks that he had spoken out of turn and that he should have restricted his statement to only the visa agreement.
The only concrete outcome was the understanding on the visit of a second Pakistani judicial commission to India to cross-examine the key 26/11 witnesses here. But in what vividly illustrates how the alleged peace mission was marred by a deepening suspicion of Pakistan's intent to take the 26/11 probe and trial to a logical conclusion, India insisted on two riders.
It insisted that a home ministry team should be allowed to visit Pakistan to work out the modalities and sort out the legal issues in the panel's visit. Secondly, the home ministry sought a firm legal opinion from Pakistani law officers on admissibility of the information that the panel seeks to collect from cross-examining witnesses here and also an express assurance that this would be the final visit of the judicial commission.
The Indian side justified the riders by saying how Pakistan had done little to speed up the 26/11 trial and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Much as Malik, in his one-on-one interaction with Shinde, offered to part with all the information sought by India on the 26/11 probe and trial in Pakistan, the delegation accompanying him showed few signs of matching up to the promises when it came to the brasstacks. Incidentally, Abu Jundal being an "Indian intelligence agent" was never raised by Malik during the talks, even after the Indian side repeatedly cited Jundal's statement to underline that even he had confirmed Hafiz Saeed's role as the prime mover of the 26/11 attack.
Among the demands put forward by Shinde at his interaction with Malik were handing over a copy of the 26/11 chargesheet filed in the Rawalpindi court, details of calls exchanged by 26/11 perpetrators, IP addresses used for communication during the Mumbai attacks and details of bank accounts supposedly used by 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Shinde also sought dates for an NIA team's visit to review progress of the 26/11 probe in Pakistan.
Though Malik's response was prompt and "magnanimous" - he said all demands would be met and even volunteered to ferry the NIA team to Pakistan on his return flight - when the Indo-Pakistan delegations really got down to business, the assurances seemed to have run dry.
One particular incident confirmed that Pakistan's attitude towards the 26/11 case - tall promises but no follow-up - remains unchanged. When Shinde asked Malik for details of the 26/11 chargesheet filed with the anti-terror court in Adiala jail, Malik promptly offered to get the signatory, an additional secretary who was part of his delegation, to hand over the document.
However, when the additional secretary in question was confronted with the request for a copy of the chargesheet, he looked puzzled and said he had brought no such document with him.
The chargesheet would have helped the Indian side to confirm if the evidence submitted against the seven accused on trial in Pakistan was based on just the statements of Ajmal Kasab and Abu Jundal or if some further investigation had been carried out by the FIA.
Malik's assurance on call details, IP addresses and bank account queries related to 26/11 also met the same fate. An official who was part of the talks told TOI that this really put off the Indian side, which saw this as yet another confirmation of Pakistan's continuing unwillingness to cooperate on bringing the 26/11 perpetrators to book.
In fact, Pakistan's failure to match its assurances with action was raised by Shinde at a dinner hosted at the Pakistan high commission on Saturday. He confronted Malik on how his promises on 26/11 cooperation had fizzled out when the India-Pakistan delegations sat on the table. Malik, as usual, is said to have deftly evaded a response.
Malik’s visit backfires, India rules out joint statement - The Times of India
^^ Zaban ko Lagam dena bohuth important hein!!!! Aya tha Kuch sudharneko... Jara hahein usko bigadke!!!!!!
Though a joint press conference by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Pakistani counterpart was ruled out at the very outset on account of Parliament being in session, the two sides had agreed to issue a joint statement.
Officials in the home ministry were, in fact, working on a draft until the ceaseless needling led India to decide that enough was enough. The last minute decision was a vivid illustration of India's annoyance over Malik's conduct which widened the trust deficit and reinforced India's suspicions that Pakistan was not sincere when it promised to punish the perpetrators of 26/11.
However, the bitter taste left by Malik's controversial remarks - wherein he mentioned 26/11 and Babri demolition in the same breath and also indicated that Kargil martyr Saurabh Kalia may have succumbed to inclement weather - led India to do away with a joint statement. The fact that this was a last-minute decision, taken after much prodding of Malik's delegation to act on India's demands in the 26/11 case, was clear when home ministry officials were asked to work on Sunday in anticipation of a positive response from Pakistan.
In fact, even before they decided against the joint statement, India made its disgust plain. Shinde, whom Malik had stunned into silence by raking up Babri, reportedly told the Pakistani visitor during one-on-one talks that he had spoken out of turn and that he should have restricted his statement to only the visa agreement.
The only concrete outcome was the understanding on the visit of a second Pakistani judicial commission to India to cross-examine the key 26/11 witnesses here. But in what vividly illustrates how the alleged peace mission was marred by a deepening suspicion of Pakistan's intent to take the 26/11 probe and trial to a logical conclusion, India insisted on two riders.
It insisted that a home ministry team should be allowed to visit Pakistan to work out the modalities and sort out the legal issues in the panel's visit. Secondly, the home ministry sought a firm legal opinion from Pakistani law officers on admissibility of the information that the panel seeks to collect from cross-examining witnesses here and also an express assurance that this would be the final visit of the judicial commission.
The Indian side justified the riders by saying how Pakistan had done little to speed up the 26/11 trial and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Much as Malik, in his one-on-one interaction with Shinde, offered to part with all the information sought by India on the 26/11 probe and trial in Pakistan, the delegation accompanying him showed few signs of matching up to the promises when it came to the brasstacks. Incidentally, Abu Jundal being an "Indian intelligence agent" was never raised by Malik during the talks, even after the Indian side repeatedly cited Jundal's statement to underline that even he had confirmed Hafiz Saeed's role as the prime mover of the 26/11 attack.
Among the demands put forward by Shinde at his interaction with Malik were handing over a copy of the 26/11 chargesheet filed in the Rawalpindi court, details of calls exchanged by 26/11 perpetrators, IP addresses used for communication during the Mumbai attacks and details of bank accounts supposedly used by 26/11 accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Shinde also sought dates for an NIA team's visit to review progress of the 26/11 probe in Pakistan.
Though Malik's response was prompt and "magnanimous" - he said all demands would be met and even volunteered to ferry the NIA team to Pakistan on his return flight - when the Indo-Pakistan delegations really got down to business, the assurances seemed to have run dry.
One particular incident confirmed that Pakistan's attitude towards the 26/11 case - tall promises but no follow-up - remains unchanged. When Shinde asked Malik for details of the 26/11 chargesheet filed with the anti-terror court in Adiala jail, Malik promptly offered to get the signatory, an additional secretary who was part of his delegation, to hand over the document.
However, when the additional secretary in question was confronted with the request for a copy of the chargesheet, he looked puzzled and said he had brought no such document with him.
The chargesheet would have helped the Indian side to confirm if the evidence submitted against the seven accused on trial in Pakistan was based on just the statements of Ajmal Kasab and Abu Jundal or if some further investigation had been carried out by the FIA.
Malik's assurance on call details, IP addresses and bank account queries related to 26/11 also met the same fate. An official who was part of the talks told TOI that this really put off the Indian side, which saw this as yet another confirmation of Pakistan's continuing unwillingness to cooperate on bringing the 26/11 perpetrators to book.
In fact, Pakistan's failure to match its assurances with action was raised by Shinde at a dinner hosted at the Pakistan high commission on Saturday. He confronted Malik on how his promises on 26/11 cooperation had fizzled out when the India-Pakistan delegations sat on the table. Malik, as usual, is said to have deftly evaded a response.
Malik’s visit backfires, India rules out joint statement - The Times of India
^^ Zaban ko Lagam dena bohuth important hein!!!! Aya tha Kuch sudharneko... Jara hahein usko bigadke!!!!!!
