India growls, but Pakistan purrs

India’s “aggressive” diplomacy to force Pakistan to take action against those involved in the Mumbai attacks has yielded no result.

Pakistan’s prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani snubbed New Delhi by dubbing the evidence given by India as mere findings. Apart from acknowledging Mohammad Ajmal Amir as a Pakistani, there has been no forward movement.

Instead, the establishment in Pakistan has given itself a clean chit by pinning the blame on the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The US agrees with Britain’s foreign secretary David Miliband on this. Yet, Indian leaders, from prime minister Manmohan Singh to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, believe such an attack could not have taken place without the backing of the establishment, by which they mean the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the army.

India now plans to approach the UN Security Council to get Pakistan to arrest Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar. While most analysts agree with the government’s decision, some believe that by broadening the agenda, India will only defuse the aim of getting Pakistan to act against those behind the Mumbai attacks. One name that comes to mind is LeT’s Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the man behind the plot.

Meanwhile, Indian leaders continue to make empty statements. Mukherjee said on Wednesday, “There is a continuing pattern of evasiveness and denial in Pakistan’s response to the terrorist attack. We have asked their government to undertake investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Instead, he said, “we hear statements by Pakistani leaders at high levels. These reinforce the doubts on Pakistan’s stance on terrorism, and on its capacity and willingness to cooperate with others against terrorism.”