JOIN USExternal Affairs Minister S M Krishna termed it as “regrettable” and said that it would “put under a cloud” the “seriousness” of Islamabad to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice. “We are unhappy that Pakistan did not show the degree of seriousness and commitment that it should have had to bring to justice the perpetrators of the terror attacks in Mumbai,” added Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Krishna and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon later briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held discussions to formulate future course of action. National Security Adviser M K Narayanan was also present. Krishna also conveyed India’s concerns over the release of the JuD chief to the Charge d’ Affairs of the US embassy, Peter Burleigh, when the latter called on him.
Krishna also reacted strongly to fresh attempts by Pakistan to link the resolution of the Indo-Pak dispute over Kashmir with the fight against terror in South Asia. “It (terrorism) has nothing to do with Kashmir. Terror, whether it is in Kashmir, in Mumbai or elsewhere, is abominable,” he told reporters. He was reacting to Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s remark that that Kashmir issue “holds the key to durable peace in the region”.
Krishna said that the dispute over Kashmir was one of the issues that India and Pakistan had been trying to resolve through the composite dialogue since January 2004. “Now it is in Pakistan’s court to create conditions for the dialogue to be resumed,” he added.
The JuD is believed to be a front of the proscribed terrorist outfit LeT and New Delhi believes that it had a role in planning and carrying out the 26/11 attacks. Pakistan had put Sayeed under house-arrest on December 11 last year, after UN clubbed JuD as terrorist group.
Freeing JuD chief ‘not a positive signal’
New Delhi, dhns: The release of Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, head of JuD and founder of the banned LeT, by a Pakistan court may have “definite adverse impact” on the security of India and South Asian region in general.
“The LeT has been a virulent organisation terrorising India. Punishment to Saeed would have a chastising effect on him,” former IB director Ajit Doval told Deccan Herald when asked about the impact of his release on India. Doval was appointed IB director in July 2004 with a view to counter terror strikes, particularly in the context of Jammu and Kashmir.
Doval maintains that freeing of the former LeT chief does not augur well. “ It is not a positive signal for India,” he says.
He may revive the organisation, which had remained “dormant” during his custody, Home Ministry sources said.