Union home ministry sources said Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik’s signing of the liberalised visa regime with his Indian counterpart Sushilkumar Shinde as a “mere formality” given the fact that it was in the pipeline for quite sometime. Ministry sources also confirmed that on the core issue of terrorism, the Pakistani delegation remained “non committal”.
Indian intelligence agencies also completely rubbished Mr Malik’s assertion that Abu Jundal, a key Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant, was an operative of Indian agencies. Jundal was present in the Karachi control room during the 26/11 Mumbai attack. Home secretary R.K. Singh described Mr Malik’s claims as “ridiculous”.
The Pakistan interior minister also blamed Indian security agencies for their failure in preventing 26/11 carnage. He said had there been interaction between Pakistan and India and regular sharing of information, the 26/11 attack could have been prevented.
Speaking at a seminar earlier during the day Mr Malik said the Mumbai attack was not state-sponsored, but carried out by non-state actors, like Illyas Kashmiri, David Headley, Abu Jundal, Jabbiullah and Fahim Ansari.
“So, what I am emphasising, if we had interaction at intelligence level, at ministerial level at the government level and at diplomatic level, then we would have opportunity to share our information. May be, had we interacted (before 26/11), we would have found out Abu Jundal and Headley,” Mr Rehman Malik added.
Meanwhile, the home ministry officials confirmed that a delegation will visit Pakistan shortly to set the terms of reference for a Pakistani Judicial Commission which will tour India to cross examine four witnesses of Mumbai terror case. Sources said that the home ministry hoped that this will ensure stringent conviction for those lodged in Pakistan jail for the Mumbai attack.
The Pakistan interior minister complimented Indian agencies for arresting the key accused in the Samjhauta blast case while refuting allegations that Hindus were being persecuted in Pakistan saying every Pakistani citizen enjoys equal rights in that country.