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| Delhi has evidence of Pak aiding militants | | India harbours suspicion about Pak agencies: Mukherjee | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, NOV 17
In a dramatic turn of events, the Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, has charged Pakistan with aiding and abetting Islamist militants. The government of India, he said, had "reasonable" evidence of Pakistani state backing for Islamist militants who organise attacks in India.
Pranab Mukherjee's statement came just two days after the two countries finalised a joint anti-terrorism panel. Mukherjee told NDTV television in an interview aired on Friday that New Delhi had information pointing to the involvement of Pakistan's government in recent violence in India.
"So, therefore, we do feel that we have reasonable evidence, good evidence that there has been some involvement of some of the (Pakistani state) organisations", Mukherjee said. Mukherjee's comments came after the top foreign ministry officials from the two countries met in New Delhi this week for their first formal talks in nearly a year.
India pressed Pakistan on what it says is the involvement of Pakistani Islamist militant groups in recent attacks in Indian cities, which have left more than 200 people dead. But in a move seen as a step forward in their cautious peace process, the two nuclear rivals put the final touches to a panel to tackle terrorism through the sharing of information.
Peace moves, which began in January 2004, were stalled by deadly train bombings in Mumbai in July which some Indian officials have said were executed by Pakistani militant groups with the help of disaffected Indian Muslims, and plotted by Islamabad's military spy agency, the ISI.
Mukherjee said that India continues to harbour suspicions about the role of Pakistani government agencies. "I do not know whether any country of the world will say that I have sanctioned a terrorist activity ... no state can declare that terrorism is the accepted policy of the state", he told NDTV.
New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of supporting Muslim rebels fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, while Islamabad says it is doing all it can to curb cross-border infiltration by Pakistan-based militants. Pakistani officials say that New Delhi is too quick to blame Pakistan without evidence when an attack takes place in India, hurting the delicate peace process.
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