Angered by Pakistan, PM rejects all talk of talks

Prime minister Manmohan Singh was so irritated by Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s remark at a media roundtable seeking more evidence from India against the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that Singh, on Tuesday, ruled out talks with Pakistan until it took “credible steps” to prosecute the LeT leadership which masterminded the Mumbai carnage.

Gilani may well regret shooting his mouth off. Diplomats say the Pakistani foreign office has been in overdrive, trying to set up a meeting between Singh and Gilani on the sidelines of the Saarc summit, a mere fortnight away in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu. Now that meeting could be twice as hard to pull off.

On Monday, Gilani, speaking to a roundtable of reporters, said that Pakistan has already banned some extremist groups and frozen their bank accounts and was seeking more evidence from India against the LeT. “If we have more effective evidence, certainly they will be brought to justice,” Gilani said. His remark did nothing but vex India which has already answered a set of 30 questions that Islamabad put to it regarding 26/11.

India also provided bulging dossiers with telephone conversations of the 10 attackers and their Pakistan-based handlers, fingerprints and other details of the terrorists who struck in Mumbai, besides forensic analysis of GPS, ammunition and other equipment used by the terrorists.

“So I do not think there is any need for me to produce additional evidence to prime minister Gilani about the role the LeT, Hafiz Saeed, Ilyas Kashmiri and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi are playing in fanning terrorist acts directed against India,” Singh said tartly.

Pinning the responsibility on Pakistan for mending ties ruined by the Mumbai attacks, Singh pointed out that “there are still people who are named as part of the conspirators, but are roaming around freely” in Pakistan. The PM said the LeT hand in the Mumbai attacks was established by American intelligence; “Not by our investigations and our intelligence but by the intelligence of our friendly countries.”

“We would like Pakistan to at least bring all of these perpetrators of these horrible crimes to book and do so effectively. That’s the minimum that we expect from Pakistan. If Pakistan does that, we will be very happy to begin talking once again,” Singh told reporters.

Singh also told Obama on Sunday that Pakistan’s government lacked the will to punish those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. Obama responded by pressing Gilani to take action against the LeT. Gilani confirmed that Obama raised Singh’s concerns to him.

Singh ran into Gilani twice during the two-day nuclear security summit in Washington, but Singh said “there was no serious discussions” during the encounters. Clearly, the PM doesn’t want anyone reading anything into a perfunctory handshake at a working dinner on Monday hosted by Obama.

“I complemented the prime minister on the passage of the constitutional amendment bill which I think makes the prime minister a more powerful personality in Pakistan’s political system. But beyond that there was no serious discussion,” emphasised Singh.

Separately, Singh got an assurance from Obama that India would get access to LeT operative David Coleman Headley. “The president is aware of the legal position and we will get access to Headley,” Singh told reporters.

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, Singh added that the summit had addressed India’s fears; “We have been voicing our concerns regarding nuclear proliferation, clandestine activities and nuclear trafficking for some time,” said Singh. “This is the first time the international community has come together to recognise that these are serious concerns and that’s a matter of satisfaction.”