New Delhi, July 13: India strongly suspects Pakistani hand in Tuesday's serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains with all leads pointing to involvement of ISI-backed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, highly placed sources said
tonight.
"The involvement of Pakistani hand is obvious...There is
no doubt that LeT, which is backed by Pakistan's ISI, is
involved," the sources said.
Various agencies investigating the serial blasts are
also probing whether other terror groups were involved along
with LeT, they said.
"Other terror groups may have been involved in the
blasts along with LeT...This angle is being investigated,"
the sources said.
The progress in the probe into the blasts was discussed
at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh today.
Singh is scheduled to visit Mumbai tomorrow for a
first-hand assessment of the situation in the wake of the
bombings that have left 200 dead and over 700 injured.
Pak role in blasts may affect peace process
The peace process with Pakistan
may come under strain if investigations show its involvement
in the Mumbai blasts, and the first casualty could be the
Foreign Secretary-level talks here next week.
"There will definitely be an impact (on the peace
process) if the cross-border terrorism continues," a senior
official said here today.
In the wake of the blasts in Mumbai's trains that killed
200 people, there was an opinion in the government that
the peace process and terror strikes cannot go on together, he
said.
"We will have to do something if Pakistan's involvement
is established," he said, indicating the dialogue process
could be affected but did not elaborate.
With the security agencies strongly suspecting the
involvement of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba in the blasts,
uncertainty is growing over the Foreign Secretary-level talks
expected to be held here on July 20.
Officials in the External Affairs Ministry remained
non-committal on the dates of the talks, during which the two
sides are to review the third round of their composite
dialogue.
The Foreign Secretary-level talks were to be followed the
next day by parleys between the foreign ministers to review
the last round of the composite dialogue and set the agenda
for the next round.
However, these talks are unlikely to take place because
of protocol problems. India does not have a full-fledged
External Affairs Minister since Natwar Singh quit the post in
November and the portfolio is being looked after by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.
Pak open to postponement of Foreign Secy level talks
Pakistan today indicated that it
was open to postponement of the Foreign Secretary-level talks,
tentatively scheduled on July 20, in view of the "monstrous
tragedy" in Mumbai.
"If India feels that these talks should be postponed to a
later date, we can go along with that," Pakistan Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a private a news channel.
She said Islamabad's willingness to agree to rescheduling
of the talks was not because the blasts have been allegedly
linked to Pakistan but because of the "domestic" problem in
India.
"We understand the big tragedy (has occurred)... We will
wait for India's convenience," Aslam said.
She, however, said there has been no official word from
India seeking deferment of the talks.
On Pakistan's hand being suspected in Tuesday's serial
blasts, she said if New Delhi has any "so-called evidence", it
should share it with Islamabad to see if it acts on that or
not.
Aslam said Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had
himself given assurances about not allowing Pakistani soil for
terror acts against India and that Islamabad was committed to
these.
She also denied that Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid
Mehmood Kasuri had sought to link the "monstrous" Mumbai
blasts to Kashmir issue.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 13, 2006, 00:00