Date:23/09/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/09/23/stories/2003092305401200.htm

National

Press reports on Dawood `vindicate' India's stand

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 22. Pakistani press reports that Dawood Ibrahim, wanted for the March 1993 bomb blasts was living in Karachi has only vindicated the Government of India's contention that Dawood was thriving after shifting his "business" to the Pakistani port city.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told this correspondent that they had seen a report in the Herald magazine, which revealed that not only was Dawood in Karachi, but had also developed an extensive underworld network in Pakistan.

The sources said the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, during his July 2001 visit to India, told the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, that Dawood was not in Pakistan. These Pakistani press reports showed that Gen. Musharraf had been "duplicitous" in his conduct when it came to denying the presence of Dawood. "The Pakistani leader could have kept quiet when Mr. Advani raised the issue with him. Instead, he specifically denied that Dawood was in Karachi."

According to the sources, the Pakistani approach to this issue and others fitted into a pattern. "Whether it is Dawood, Kargil, Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, Pakistan has always denied that it has a hand in all these issues. But, India and the rest of the world know what the reality is."

"During and after Kargil, Pakistan denied that its armed forces were involved. But, later, they chose to present several of their military personnel involved in the conflict with medals," the sources maintained.

These reports also cast doubt on Gen. Musharraf's assertion that he was a "credible interlocutor" when it came to dealing with India. How could New Delhi deal with a person who had deliberately mislead the Government of India on the all-crucial issue of Dawood Ibrahim?

The involvement of Dawood Ibrahim and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate in the 1993 Bombay (as the city was known then) is well-known. After having colluded with Dawood, the intelligence establishment in Pakistan has, over time, developed a symbiotic relationship with the former Mumbai don and the rest of his clan.

India has also repeatedly asked Pakistan to address its concerns on terrorism. Given the fact that Dawood "was" an Indian citizen, Islamabad should have little trouble in handing him over to India.

This would prove that Pakistan was cooperating with India on the issue of terrorism.

But the nexus between Dawood and the Pakistani intelligence establishment runs deep. Pakistan would not like to hand over a wanted man like Dawood Ibrahim to New Delhi.