Stepping up pressure on Pakistan to take action in the Mumbai terror attack case, India said on Sunday that the normalisation of bilateral ties can “only be in an atmosphere free of terror”, stressing the need for creation of the “right” ambience.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who had a 30-minute meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar here, underlined the importance of taking action to bring perpetrators of 26/11 to justice, maintaining that New Delhi has given additional concrete evidence against those involved.
Krishna, who met Khar on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan, also raised the issue of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed’s “pouring venom” and continued anti-India propaganda, official sources said.
They said the two ministers had “candid and constructive discussion” in a cordial atmosphere during which they also shared their assessment of the outcome of their Foreign Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi two days ago.
During the Secretary-level talks, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had shared with his counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani the information gathered from Jundal who revealed that he, along with Saeed, was in the control room in Pakistan during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Mathai also shared the information on Pakistani passport and Pakistan’s domestic identity cards issued to Jundal in the name of Riyasat Ali, indicating the involvement of Pakistan’s state agencies in the Mumbai attacks.
“Krishna reiterated the importance of taking action to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai to justice and action against terrorists. He emphasised that nomalisation of relations can only be in an atmosphere free of terror.
“Hence the need for creation of the right atmosphere,” official sources said, adding “the activities of Hafiz Saeed pouring venom on India” were pointed out by the minister. Krishna also took up the case of Sarabjit Singh, currently on death row, and other Indian prisoners in Pakistan.
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