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Boucher wiser on Pak terror tap
US assistant secy of state had earlier said that India had no evidence to accuse Pakistan for the Mumbai blasts.
Hours of intensive talks with senior officials appears to have convinced US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Richard Boucher, that India’s concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan were justified.
Acknowledging that some terrorist groups that have “designs” against India still exist in Pakistan, Boucher, who had earlier said that India had no evidence to accuse Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai serial blasts, said on Monday that “things have advanced” since he made those remarks some weeks ago. New Delhi was livid with his comments then, and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, in an interview, had said Boucher was clearly “not in the loop.”
“We all know there is terrorism in the (South Asian) region. Some of terrorism is in Pakistan. Some of the (terror) groups that have designs against India still have pieces in Pakistan,” he said on Monday at an interaction organised by FICCI, shortly after his meetings with senior Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials. “We (the US) have acted against the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),” Boucher said, and “imposed UN-mandated sanctions against the terrorist outfit, and, through an executive order, seized its assets twice.”
“He appears to be back in the loop,” on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a senior official said. Emerging from almost three-hour long meetings with MEA officials, Boucher said they spoke of bolstering joint efforts to combat terror, and the need to fight it in “all places and all its forms.”
He also met Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, after his meetings with the heads of the Eurasia and United Nations (Political) divisions. The progress of the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement, and other benchmarks laid out during the July 18, 2005, and March 2, 2006 talks between US President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, came up for detailed review, sources said.
Describing his meetings as “very good”, Boucher said the entire gamut of bilateral relations was reviewed. There has been “considerable progress” in many areas and “there are areas where we hope to make progress,” Boucher said. “When it comes to terrorism, there is a lot more work to do.”
While not mentioning Pakistan, Boucher said, “I don't see the issue of Kashmir and terrorism linked in any way.” Condemning the “deep tragedy” of the 11/7 blasts in Mumbai, Boucher said, “You (people of India) have been hurt by terrorism repeatedly. You are determined to beat that...We remain your partners.”
