PM for solid steps on 26/11 probe

Ahead of the home secretary level talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the India-Pakistan dialogue process to gather full steam for getting Islamabad to take more concrete steps on Mumbai terror attack case, government sources said.

Ahead of the home secretary level talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants the India-Pakistan dialogue process to gather full steam for getting Islamabad to take more concrete steps on Mumbai terror attack case, government sources said.

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Though the preparatory meetings for the home secretary level-talks in New Delhi on March 28-29 are on, there are no clear signs of Pakistan completely coming around the Indian proposal for invoking the law of comity (legal reciprocity) on the Mumbai attack case.

This includes Indian demand for sending a team to Pakistan and letting a judicial commission from Pakistan to India regarding the 26/11 attack.

For India, forward movement on 26/11 is a domestic imperative for taking the dialogue process to the "meaningful heights", Indian officials said. Islamabad is also set to raise the issue of Samjhauta train blast case.

As part of the preparatory meetings, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik had met with foreign secretary Nirupama Rao last Saturday and later Malik had met with home secretary GK Pillai.

The government sources told HT that the Prime Minister is keen that the home secretary level talks should be "an engagement that should result in way forward on 26/11 case" as well as "addressing security issues of mutual concerns" to keep the "dialogue process on."

At the same time, there are strong views within the government in the form of a reminder that Pakistan leadership is "still weak" to take bold decisions.

On Libya

The sources said that the cabinet committee on security (CCS) that met on Thursday also discussed the situation in Libya.

Both Pillai and Rao were called in for the CCS meeting.

New Delhi is set to take up a stronger view on the western air strikes on Libya. India had abstained from the UN vote that had authorised a no-fly zone and subsequent air attack on the North African country.