Secy-level talks: Pak goes on the offensive

Pakistan drew first blood on Saturday — a day before the bilateral dialogue process resumes here — accusing India of “lacking the courage to unearth the guilt of Hindu extremists and their links with some Indian Army personnel”.

Pakistan drew first blood on Saturday — a day before the bilateral dialogue process resumes here — accusing India of “lacking the courage to unearth the guilt of Hindu extremists and their links with some Indian Army personnel”.

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Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistan counterpart Salman Bashir, who are here for the SAARC meeting of foreign secretaries and council of ministers, will meet on Sunday to resume the process that received a severe jolt after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said India had been using “terrorism as a propaganda against Pakistan”, although it still had not been able to complete the probe into the Samjhauta Express blast that killed 42 Pakistani nationals. “New Delhi needs to bridge the gap between what it says and what it does,” he added.

Observers, however, interpret Pakistan’s tough talk as a cover for softer steps towards restarting the dialogue process.

New Delhi maintained, meanwhile, that in the Mumbai attacks, the leads “were direct and pointed” while the Samjhauta case investigators had to delve much deeper to come up with a cohesive picture and the two cases could not thus be compared.