Following the arrest of Abu Jundal and new revelations in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, cross-border terrorism will once again dominate proceedings at the two day foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan starting July 4.
Highly placed government sources said a core team of senior officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and home has been assigned the task of preparing a detailed note on the developments post Jundal’s arrest that will be taken up “strongly” with Pakistan.
Sources said much of what transpires between foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani may not come out in the public domain as New Delhi is expected to do some tough talking with Islamabad, particularly on the issue of state support in the 26/11 terror attacks.
Sources added that even though New Delhi is not expected to provide any evidence or Jundal’s interrogation report (IR) to Pakistan at this stage, the details of the Lashkar militant’s disclosure will definitely dominate the proceedings during the twoday talks.
The joint team of MHA and foreign ministry officials are busy sifting through the details of Jundal’s elaborate disclosure for drafting a note to be given to Pakistan.
Jundal’s startling revelations, sources added, was hard evidence which will be very difficult for Pakistan to ignore.
“We would definitely want Pakistan to take some action in light of these new revelations and we will provide them with the relevant details also. But much cannot be shared with Pakistan at this stage since our own investigations will then get hampered,” a senior government official said.
Officials admitted that the core agenda of the foreign secretary-level talks has changed following Jundal’s arrests and more recently the faux pas over the release of Sarabjit Singh.
India, sources added, would want to see implementation of more confidence-building measures (CBMs), but not at the cost of compromising the country’s internal security.
“All other issues like Sir Creek, finalisation of easing of visa norms, increased trade will come up during the talks but Pakistan will be told very clearly that we want to see some concrete action now as far as investigations at their end into the 26/11 case are concerned,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police’s special cell is all set to seek an extension of Jundal’s custody when his remand finishes on July 5. The investigating agency will inform the court that in view of important evelations by the accused, further investigations had to be done for which his custody was important.