Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The two-day meeting between the Home Secretaries of India and Pakistan began on Monday paving way for a possible summit meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two sides on the margins of the cricket encounter in Mohali.
During the two-day meeting, Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai and his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhary Qamar Zaman are expected to deliberate on a wide range of issues, including Islamabad`s reluctance in co-operating fully in bringing to justice the perpetrators of 26/11 attacks.
The meeting comes ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s possible meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, the invitation for which was sent only on Friday after it emerged that India and Pakistan will clash in the World Cup semi-final at Mohali on Wednesday.
Although, no breakthrough is expected in the official-level talks, which is being held after a gap of nine months, officials of both sides are hopeful that the "ice may be broken" for the resumption of substantial dialogue later.
"Pakistan`s lack of sincerity in cooperating with India in any anti-terror initiatives could be the reason behind little enthusiasm on the part of Indian security establishment towards the talks," an official said.
The prosecution`s attempt in Pakistan to bring the 26/11 guilty to justice "has not moved an inch" and India`s request for providing the voice samples of the handlers of the attackers has fallen on deaf ears.
When Home Minister P Chidambaram had asked for action against the 26/11 perpetrators and voice samples of handlers of the attackers during his Islamabad visit last year, his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik told him that "you would not be disappointed by our response."
But nine months down the line, there is no Pakistani response, officials point out.
"So how can we expect that this meeting will bring a major breakthrough for us?" the official asked.
Besides, no key person, who was actually involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes or giving directions to the attackers, has been arrested in Pakistan and only second or third-level conspirators were put behind the bars.
Indian investigators have transcripts of the recorded conversations between the terrorists at each of the sites of the attacks and their handlers based in Pakistan.
India has given the names, photographs and addresses of the handlers and Pakistan just need to check out their voices. But no response has been provided to it yet.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani authorities want concrete results from India on its probe into the February 2007 blast in the Samjhauta Express -- rail link between India and Pakistan -- in which more than 65 people were killed.
With PTI Inputs
