NEW DELHI, Oct 22: India and Pakistan reported progress in their widely-watched meeting on a joint Anti-Terror Mechanism on Monday, saying they had exchanged information on new incidents and expected to work together to assist in investigations in the future.
A joint statement issued at the end of their day-long meeting said both sides would hold their next meeting in Islamabad, possibly in the next three or four months.
The mechanism was set up by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana in September last year. This was their second meeting since then.
The statement left enough room to speculate some of the issues that were discussed, including quite possibly the Karachi carnage. It said the two sides “reviewed the follow-up steps taken on the information shared during the first meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism held in Islamabad on 6th March 2007 and in the intervening period.”
An indication that the Karachi tragedy was discussed in the talks was present in the next paragraph that said: “Both sides shared new information on terrorist incidents, including those which have occurred since the last meeting. They agreed to continue to work to identify measures, exchange specific information and assist in investigations.”
The Indian delegation was headed by K.C. Singh, additional secretary in the foreign ministry (International Organisations). The Pakistan delegation was led by Khalid Aziz Babar, additional secretary (UN&EC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Karachi bombings had triggered all round sympathy and solidarity in India for Ms Benazir Bhutto. While Dr Singh led the official response and wrote condolence letters to Gen Musharraf and Ms Bhutto, the opposition was represented by BJP leader L.K. Advani who rang her up. The Indian high commissioner in Pakistan met Ms Bhutto and told her that he looked forward to working with her. All this points to evolving closer cooperation in a joint effort to fight terrorism, analysts say.
The PTI said New Delhi sought to know at the meeting what action Islamabad had taken on information provided about persons believed to be behind the cross-border Samjhauta Express blasts and other terror attacks in India over the last two years. Previously, it was Pakistan that had been asking for details of investigations into the incident.
The PTI said the Indian side provided evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the bomb blasts at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Ajmer shrine and Ludhiana cinema hall over the last few months.
Security agencies had blamed some Pakistan-based terrorists for the attacks. Indian National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan recently said Pakistani linkages were common to all these terror incidents.
“The Pakistani side assured that it will look into the evidence,” a source told the PTI after the meeting.
