“Pakistan must take steps to bring to justice the perpetrators of this horrible crime. That’s the minimum we expect Pakistan to do,” Dr Singh said.
Responding strongly to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s remarks that India needs to provide more evidence on the 26/11 terror attack, Dr Singh said: “I don’t see there is any need for further evidence about the role of the LeT. I would hate to enter into an argument with Mr Gilani at a press meet.”
He then pointed out that “American intelligence and American forces have themselves pointed out the role of the LeT and their links to Al Qaeda. I do not think there is any need for me to produce additional evidence about the role of LeT operators, which include Hafeez Sayeed, Ilyas Kashmiri and Zakeeur Rehman...”
He added: “We all know that there are still people who are named as part of the conspirators roaming around freely. That’s what the reality is. These are facts borne out not by us but by the intelligence (agencies) of friendly countries. We would like Pakistan to bring all the perpetrators of these horrible crimes to book and to do so effectively.”
Dr Singh ruled out any third-party intervention in sorting out issues in the neighbourhood. “I believe issues in South Asia should be resolved through bilateral talks. There is no role for any outsider.”
Talking about Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that “people wanted for conspiratory roles are roaming freely in Pakistan. Pakistan should bring the perpetrators to book.” On the issue of access to American-Pakistani LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley, Dr Singh said he had “raised that matter with the (US) President. He did say that he was aware of the legal position and that we will get access to David Headley.”
Replying to a query on the Pakistan Prime Minister inviting him, Dr Singh said he was “hearing it for the first time”. Dr Singh said he had met Mr Gilani twice, and “I complimented him on the passage of the recent constitutional amendment which makes the Pakistani Prime Minister more powerful”. Dr Singh made it clear that “nothing was discussed beyond that”. On the issue of a bilateral meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister during the forthcoming Saarc summit in Bhutan, Dr Singh said: “We will cross the bridge when it comes.”
During his bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama, on the issue of sanctions against Iran, Dr Singh said he “told the President that we are of the view that sanctions do not achieve the main objective, but poor countries suffer much more. The ruling establishments are not really affected by these sanctions.” He made it clear that India has a “good relationship with Iran”.
Asked why India was bringing complaints about Pakistan to the United States instead of using its own leverage to straighten out things, Dr Singh said: “There is no question of taking our complaints against any country to another forum. Ultimately India has to tackle the problems it faces on its own, but international sentiment and international opinion does matter...”
Asked whether India enjoys good relations with the Obama administration in comparison to its predecessor (under George W. Bush), the Prime Minister said that “in matters relating to statecraft I think one should not jump prematurely to conclusions which are not warranted by the facts on the ground”.
On China, the Prime Minister said India has a “border problem which needs to be resolved”, adding: “We are working very hard to find practical, pragmatic solutions to that problem. But we both recognise that it will take time, and both of us have agreed that pending the resolution of the border issue, peace and tranquillity should be maintained along the Line of Actual Control, and by and large that is the situation that remains on the ground.”
Sanjay Basak