NEW DELHI, Dec 28: India on Sunday denied it had threatened Pakistan with any ultimatum during the current crisis and said it would hand over all evidence that Pakistan needs from the Mumbai attacks to pursue the culprits, but the investigations were not over yet.
Indian defence ministry sources revealed that the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries had held unscheduled talks over the phone on Saturday to remove misgivings about troop movements on the border.
Press Trust of India said the DGMOs “have spoken to each other in an unscheduled phone call aiming to ease heightening tension between the neighbours”.
It quoted defence ministry sources as saying here on Sunday that the DGMOs made the unscheduled call “to clarify position on either side of the border in view of reports that they were mobilising troops on either side”.
(In Islamabad, Director General of Inter Services Public Relations Major General Athar Abbas confirmed the talks between the DGMOs.)
Quoting unnamed sources, PTI said the call, which was made on Saturday, was unprecedented, as the two DGMOs usually have scheduled weekly talks on Tuesdays.
“Both sides apparently made clear to each other that they were not taking any aggressive postures and that the military activities on the border are routine and normal,” the news agency said.
It said there were reports in the last couple of days that the Pakistan Army was moving in their troops to the eastern border due to the growing war of words with India following November 26 Mumbai terror attacks.
There were also reports that India was redeploying its army units on a massive scale along Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir frontier and was replacing the BSF units that were guarding the border at present.
However, PTI said India had already clarified on Saturday that troop movement was regular annual winter exercise and emphatically denied that it was replacing BSF units with army troops.
Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as denying New Delhi had given an ultimatum to Pakistan since the Mumbai terror attacks.
“Calling for demolition of terror camps operating on Pakistani soil, (Mr Mukherjee) reminded the neighbouring country of its commitment not to allow terrorist activities, but said no ultimatum has been given to Islamabad to act,” PTI reported from Koderma in the Jharkhand state.
Denying any ultimatum being set for Pakistan to act, he said: “No ultimatum was set. There is no question of any ultimatum. Nobody has set any ultimatum.”
He said India would share whatever information Pakistan required from the Mumbai attacks once investigations were over. Mr Mukherjee said Pakistan should admit that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack came from there.
“If all these things are done, then there is no problem at all”. He said “not once, but twice Pakistan had made a commitment. Once by (Gen Pervez) Musharraf and now by President (Asif Ali) Zardari. Where is the commitment? Where is the action against terrorists?” Mr Mukherjee asked.
“We have evidence and gave the names, not once but ten times. Pakistan had earlier accepted that the perpetrators of Mumbai attack emanated from there. But now they are contradicting it,” Mr Mukherjee said.
Regretting Pakistan’s U-turn on Maulana Masood Azhar’s arrest, he said: “The Pakistan defence minister had earlier said that the Jaish chief was under house arrest.
“Now some others say he is not in Pakistan. Who is telling the truth? It is Pakistan which has to tell that,” Mr Mukherjee said.
