Pakistan has handed over a fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to India, ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday in Egypt.
The dossier, handed over to the Indian High Commission officials in Islamabad on Saturday, identifies 12 new suspects and gives an update on Pakistan’s investigations into the November 26 attacks, informed sources said.
After Singh’s disclosure on Saturday that ISI chief has met some officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, speculation has been rife about the powerful spy agency’s influence in the process of talks.
The Indian side is unwilling to hazard a guess on whether ISI will be part of the talks, saying it amounts to jumping several steps.
Singh, who arrived in Paris on a two-day visit yesterday to participate in the French National Day celebrations and talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, will leave for Egypt today to participate in the NAM Summit on whose sidelines he will meet his Pakistani counterpart.
Singh will meet Gilani on Thursday at Hotel Maritim Jolie Ville Golf Resort at Sharm-el Shiekh hoping to get acategoric commitment that the Mumbai terror accused would be quickly brought to justice and Pakistan's soil will not beused for terror acts against India.
{{/usCountry}}Singh will meet Gilani on Thursday at Hotel Maritim Jolie Ville Golf Resort at Sharm-el Shiekh hoping to get acategoric commitment that the Mumbai terror accused would be quickly brought to justice and Pakistan's soil will not beused for terror acts against India.
{{/usCountry}}The Singh-Gilani meeting will be preceded by talks between Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistanicounterpart Salman Bashir, who will have the first meeting today and later report to their respective leaders.
Though the Indian side is entering the talks on a note of caution, it is not pre-judging Pakistan's intention. Thesources said India has taken note of President Asif Ali Zardari's willingness to discuss the issue of terrorism duringhis talks with Singh in Russia last month.
New Delhi has also acknowledged that Pakistan has taken "some steps" in this direction. "But what they amountto, we have to see," they said.
While India has made it clear that Pakistan should take steps to dismantle terror infrastructure and stop terroracts directed against it, New Delhi feels laying down deadlines, markers for this purpose is not pragmatic.
The Indian side feels it is premature at this stage to speculate on resumption of the peace process, stalled sincethe Mumbai attacks.
The Indian side is of the view that at this stage it can neither say yes or no to starting the Composite Dialoguewith Pakistan.
India is disappointed that eight months have passed since the Mumbai strikes and movement from the Pakistani sidein prosecuting the accused is slow and frustrating, the sources said.
The case against one of the principal accused Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT operations commander, has been deferredfor the third time till July 18 because a judge has not been appointed, the sources pointed out.
New Delhi has been unhappy over the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, LeT founder and thechief of JuD, following a Lahore High Court order on June 2.
India sees it as a serious issue and is of the strong view that Pakistan is obliged to catch anyone who incitesterrorism.
Gilani yesterday took stock of the country's probe into the Mumbai terror attacks ahead of the crucial meeting.
He met Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who briefed him about the status of the inquiry into the attacks that killednearly 183 people in November last year.