Date:08/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/08/stories/2009010859751000.htm

National

Our investigations progressing: Pakistan

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday that the material given to it by India on the Mumbai attacks was “being seriously examined” but once again described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s accusations against the Pakistani state as “unfortunate” and “unhelpful.”

“Our own investigations into Mumbai have progressed. We have received some information of an interim nature on Indian investigations. We are prepared to take this process forward with a view to uncovering full facts, thus ensuring that the perpetrators of this heinous crime, whosoever they may be, are brought to justice,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said.

In a separate statement, the Foreign Office reiterated the government’s commitment to “uncover full facts” pertaining to the incidents and the need for “establishing legally tenable evidence.”

But referring to “reports in the Indian media” on the details of the dossier, the statement said: “Pakistan regrets the propaganda campaign unleashed by India to malign Pakistan. Blame game and political point scoring is counter-productive and unacceptable.”

Mr. Gilani, meanwhile, said India had not only “refused” to co-operate in the investigations pertaining to Mumbai “but has chosen to undertake a media and diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.”

This was “clearly unhelpful,” the Prime Minister said, to any serious and objective investigations and “amounts to unnecessarily whipping up” tensions in South Asia.

“I have great personal regard for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. I am hopeful that he will act with a great sense of responsibility in the larger interest of peace, security and prosperity of the peoples of South Asia,” Mr. Gilani said.

Speaking in Kabul where he accompanied President Asif Ali Zardari on his first visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi termed Dr. Singh’s statements a “disappointment.”

The “Indians are not being far-sighted,” he said, adding that Indian politicians had “fallen prey to Mumbai.” He said India and Pakistan needed to co-operate in order to get to the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. “How can we co-operate when we start pointing fingers,” he asked.

Mr. Qureshi dismissed suggestions that there was a disconnect between the elected civilian government and the military, and praised the ISI as “an important national institution which has made tremendous contribution in the war against terror.”