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India hands over photo of Samjhauta blasts suspect to Pakistan

India has handed over the photo of a suspected Pak national believed to be involved in the blasts and sought its help in tracking him down.

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ISLAMABAD: Hinting at involvement of elements based across the border in Samjhauta Express blasts, India on Tuesday handed over to Pakistan a photo of a suspected Pakistani national believed to be involved in the terror attack and sought its cooperation in tracking him down.

At the first meeting of Indo-Pak Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism here, the photograph of an unclaimed body recovered from the site of the Mumbai train blasts on July 11 last year was also given to Pakistan with the expectation that Islamabad will help in identifying him.

The man is suspected to have been involved in the blasts that killed nearly 200 commuters and injured nearly 800.

The Indian side also gave the photo of a suspected Pakistani national who is believed to be behind the February 18 Samjhauta Express blasts that killed 68 of the travellers from Delhi to Lahore.

New Delhi also gave more evidence of involvement of Pakistan-based terror groups in the blasts in Delhi, Hyderabad and Varanasi and attack on makeshift temple in Ayodhya, officials said.

The additional proof was given after Pakistan responded to the evidence given by India with regard to these four incidents during the Foreign Secretary-level talks in Delhi on November 14-15.

At the two-day meeting which ends on Wednesday, the Indian delegation is led by K C Singh, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, while the hosts are led by his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Osman Hyder.

The names of six people, including that of a suspected killer of BJP leader Haren Pandya, were also given to Pakistan with an emphasis that they be handed over at the earliest.

New Delhi has already given a list of 35 people whom it wants Islamabad to hand over to ensure that they face trial in India for various crimes committed by them.

Pakistan, in turn, claimed nationalist rebels of Baluchistan and Sindh are being helped from across the border and handed over material in this regard to India.

The Indian side promised to look into the Pakistani allegations.

Officials said the meeting was held in "cordial and friendly" atmosphere with both sides focussing on modalities to give a permanent shape to the functioning of the mechanism.

"The idea is to make it more meaningful, substantive and significant, involving the framework for durable cooperation on terrorism," they said.

The decision to set up the anti-terror mechanism was taken in September last year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Havana on the sidelines of NAM Summit in the midst of a chill following the Mumbai train blasts.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry officials said the meeting went well and both the countries discussed ways to set up a mechanism to deal with terrorism.

"The opening round went well," a Pakistani official said, adding that the two sides talked about devising a mechanism to deal with terrorism.

"They discussed ways to share intelligence, how to prevent terrorism and if something happens how to deal with it effectively," the official said.

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