Pak to finalise response to 26/11 dossier on Monday

Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday that his government will finalise its response to India’s 26/11 dossier after a meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet on Monday. “There is an important meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet tomorrow. The report (on the Mumbai attacks) will be presented before the committee and after studying it, we will give our views,” Gilani told reporters in Multan.

Media reports said cases would be filed against five Pakistanis, including Ajmal Amir, aka Kasab, the lone terrorist caught in 26/11. Islamabad’s stand from day one has been that Pakistanis, if found involved in the Mumbai attacks, will be tried inside the country. The government has not formally stated so far whether it will seek consular access to Ajmal though it has acknowledged that he is a Pakistani national. A source said the Pakistani authorities will seek Ajmal to identify his “Indian associates”.

Seemingly, the authorities are likely to submit its report to India this week. The feeling in South Block is that the civilian government of Pakistan led by president Asif Zardari is keen to co operate with India, but is unable to do much because in crucial issues like this, it is the country’s army that calls the shots. Which is why, not much is expected from Islamabad.