New Delhi: On the eve of the meeting of
Foreign Secretaries, India today handed over the eleventh
dossier to Pakistan containing response to points raised by
Islamabad over the Mumbai terror strikes and providing
"additional information" on those involved in the attacks.
"The Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan was called
in the afternoon and handed over a set of responses to the six
dossiers received from Pakistan on April 25, 2010 on the
Mumbai terror attacks," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson
Vishnu Prakash said.
The dossier was handed over Tuesday by Y K Sinha,
Joint Secretary in-charge of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan,
to Pakistan`s Deputy High Commissioner Riffat Masood.
Besides containing response to all the queries raised
by Pakistan in their six dossiers given on April 25, India has
also provided "additional information" on those involved in
the Mumbai attacks and were operating from Pakistani soil,
sources told PTI.
The Indian "set of responses" also conveys India`s
"mounting unhappiness" with Pakistan`s lack of "concrete
action" against Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed, a
mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks.
In its six dossiers given on April 25 to Indian Deputy
High Commissioner Rahul Kulshreshth, Pakistan had asked for
three Indian officials, including two magistrates and an
investigator, to be allowed to travel to that country to
testify that they had recorded statement of Ajmal Kasab,
sentenced to death for the Mumbai carnage.
Pakistan had also asked New Delhi to hand over Kasab,
the lone terrorist captured alive during the attacks, to
facilitate the trial of LeT`s operations commander Zakiur
Rehman Lakhvi and six others charged with involvement in the
strikes in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court.
The Indian response comes few days ahead of the talks
between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani
counterpart Salman Bashir on June 24 during which both sides
will attempt to bridge "trust deficit".
Indo-Pak FS-level talks on June 24; to set stage for FMs meet
Foreign Secretaries
of India and Pakistan will hold talks on June 24, the first
meeting after the Prime Ministers of the two countries decided
in Thimphu to bridge the "trust deficit" over a month ago.
The talks will also set the tone and agenda for the
forthcoming meeting between External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on
July 15 in Islamabad.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will visit Pakistan to
hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in
Islamabad next week, an External Affairs Ministry release said
here today.
During her stay, the Foreign Secretary will also call
on Qureshi.
A brief statement issued by the Foreign Office in
Islamabad said Rao will visit the Pakistan capital on the
invitation of Bashir for bilateral talks scheduled to take
place on June 24.
Diplomatic sources there had earlier told PTI that Rao
will arrive in Islamabad a day ahead of her talks with Bashir.
Senior Pakistani officials have broadly classified the
matters to be raised during the meeting of the two Foreign
Secretaries as outstanding issues like the Kashmir issue,
humanitarian matters like the release of prisoners and
fishermen, terrorism and trade and commerce.
India has maintained that these talks were aimed at
creating the "right atmosphere" for removing the trust deficit
for a broad dialogue later.
The forthcoming meetings are result of an
understanding reached between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Thimphu on
April 29 to move forward the Indo-Pak dialogue, stalled after
the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
"There is agreement today on both sides that dialogue
is the only way forward. Consequently, our Prime Ministers
have charged the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries
with the responsibility of working out the modalities of
restoring trust and confidence in the relationship and thus
paving the way for a substantive dialogue on all issues of
mutual concern," Rao had said recently.
She has also advocated "creative solutions" on Jammu
and Kashmir and other issues to build on the progress made
earlier through the Composite Dialogue and back channel
diplomacy.
The Foreign Secretary`s visit will be followed by Home
Secretary G K Pillai`s trip to Islamabad to attend the SAARC
Home Secretaries meeting that will firm up the agenda for a
meeting of home ministers of SAARC on June 26 to be attended
by P Chidambaram.
He is also likely to hold talks with his Pakistani
counterpart Rehman Malik which are expected to be dominated by
India`s concerns over terrorism.
