The Hindu : 'Another tall tale from Pak.'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 27, 2002

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National

'Another tall tale from Pak.'

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI Sept. 26. Pakistan distancing itself from Tuesday's barbaric attack on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar was ``one more episode in the serial called tall tales from Pakistan'', the Foreign Office spokeswoman said today.

New Delhi had reason to be suspicious about external involvement in the attack, she said, adding that the investigation into the incident was still going on.

``Pakistan has been a one-stop shop for terrorism in our region.'' Pakistan had been extending ideological, material and ``moral'' support to terrorists operating in India. She said the attack on the temple had clearly outraged the sentiments of the world community and referred to the statements by different countries condemning the incident.

In response to questions, she said the Government had `seen' a British Government report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. ``If Iraq has rebuilt its missile infrastructure after the Gulf War, it cannot be without a vast network of procurement essentially from industrial countries, which have the requisite industrial and technological capacities,'' she said.

``Yet no detail of actual procurement from (a) specific country or countries has been given except the reference to an Indian firm against whom India has already acted promptly and firmly by suspending its export licence because of its violation of Indian laws.

Such selective reference to an Indian firm is liable to create a totally wrong impression in the public mind, which is unfortunate,'' she said. (The firm in question is NEC Engineers Pvt. Ltd.)

Sources also drew attention to British press reports which referred to the sale of specialised aluminium tubes used in gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment by a U.K. firm to Pakistan.

They took exception to the singling out of an Indian company in the British dossier on Iraq. In fact, India had acted against the company concerned much before the British ``report'' came out, they pointed out.

Asked about the conduct of two phases of elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the spokeswoman said the second phase had passed off without any major incident.

A number of diplomats and foreign correspondents had witnessed the polls and were in touch with State Government officials. She said that an assessment of the polls could be made after the third phase ended on October 1.

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