26/11 terror attack: India hands over third dossier to Pakistan

The external affairs ministry handed over to a diplomat of the Pakistan high commission additional information and details relating to the Mumbai terror attack sought by Islamabad, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

The additional information consisted of the confessional statement of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist captured alive during the three-day siege and DNA samples of the Mumbai terrorists New Delhi alleges are members of Pakistan-based militant outfits. 

The move by New Delhi comes days after the ruling Congress party won a fresh mandate that will enable it to deal with security issues in the neighbourhood with greater authority and decisiveness.
It is also a message to Pakistan to speed up the prosecution of the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, which froze the bilateral dialogue between the two countries.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was among the first few leaders to ring up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to congratulate him on his party's victory in the elections.

Zardari had said that he was looking forward to resuming dialogue with India after a new government was in place in New Delhi. And, in the first-ever such statement by a Pakistani leader, Zardari also said recently that India was not a threat to Pakistan, taking many by surprise in his own country.
Manmohan Singh has, however, made it clear that the dialogue process won't be resumed till Pakistan brings the Mumbai culprits to justice.
Last month, Pakistan had posed more queries in response to a second dossier furnished by India to reinforce the the involvement of Pakistan-based militants in the Mumbai attacks. New Delhi agreed to provide more information, but made it clear that it was a stonewalling tactic as there was enough evidence to prosecute the attackers.
Last month, Islamabad had alleged it had received "identical" DNA reports on two of the 10 attackers. New Delhi attributed this to an administrative error.
India has also furnished information about the SIM cards used by the attackers and the GPS coordinates they relied on.
India had in January submitted a detailed dossier on the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Mumbai attacks.
In February, Pakistan posed a set of 30 questions to which India had replied in March.

The voluminous documentation, comprising replies to 10 queries made by Pakistan and 15 booklets, were handed over by a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs when he called a senior diplomat of the Pakistan High Commission to the Ministry here.
"MEA today handed over to the Pakistani High Commission additional information and details related to the Mumbai terror attack sought by Pakistan," a statement by the Ministry said.
The documents handed over to Pakistan included the certified report of Kasab's DNA report, sources said.
India had given DNA reports of the 10 terrorists involved in the attack to Pakistan on March 13. However, two DNA reports were of the same person and the report of Kasab was missing due to a clerical error.

The fresh dossier handed over to Pakistan also included a certified statement of Kasab made before a Mumbai court, which was being persistently sought by Islamabad to pursue its own investigations into the case.
Statements of witnesses made in the court and other documents related to it were also included in the 15 booklets which ran into 1500 pages. Such documents could not be handed over earlier because of legal issues, as the permission of the court was required.
The third dossier, given two months after the last one, is a comprehensive set of evidence to enable Pakistan to carry forward the probe, sources said, hoping that Islamabad would pursue the case to take it to its logical end.
India had on March 13 handed over to Pakistan a 401-page dossier, containing question-by-question replies and annexures.
The second dossier included telephone conversations of the 10 attackers and their Pakistan-based handlers intercepted during the 60-hour carnage, fingerprints, DNA profiles and other details of the terrorists who struck in Mumbai.
The dossier also included forensic analysis of GPS, ammunition and other equipment used by the terrorists.