No credible Pakistan action against 26/11 perpetrators: P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have described his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani as a 'man of peace' in an effort to resurrect bilateral ties, but home minister P Chidambaram did some straight talking on Wednesday, reminding Islamabad that it was yet to deliver on India's repeated requests for firm and credible action against 26/11 perpetrators on its soil.

"The Pakistan prime minister may be a man of peace and if he has been described as such, that is a description given by the prime minister...that has nothing to do with the fact that they (Pakistan) have not given us voice samples or that they have not arrested the true perpetrators behind 26/11," Chidambaram told mediapersons here while presenting MHA's monthly report-card for November.

Bilateral ties between India and Pakistan have been strained since the daring attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, orchestrated and coordinated by Lashker-e-Taiba masterminds based in Pakistan. Even though three years have passed, prime conspirators like LeT founder and Jamaat ud Dawa chairman Hafiz Saeed continue to roam free in Pakistan. The 26/11 trial in Pakistan too is on the slow-burner, with the judge being changed many times over. However, Singh had, during a recent summit in Maldives, sought to put behind the bitterness over 26/11 and open a new chapter in Indo-Pakistan ties.

At the news conference, Chidambaram slammed speculation that Maoist leader Kishanji was killed in cold blood and asserted that both CRPF director-general K Vijay Kumar and senior officers of West Bengal police confirmed to him that he was indeed neutralised in an encounter that lasted more than a day.

"Kishanji was killed in a fierce gunbattle that started on November 22 and concluded on November 24. As per the requirement, the state government has instituted a CID inquiry. But I have no doubts that it was an encounter," he said.

Even though interlocutors in West Bengal have withdrawn following the killing of Kishenji, Chidambaram reiterated that the government was still open to talks with Maoists provide they suspend violence.

"Within 72 hours, we will get in touch with them to fix the date and venue for starting talks. But they must suspend violence," the home minister said.

Chidambaram also informed mediapersons that the home ministry had received a four-line resolution of the UP assembly calling for its division into four smaller states. "The matter is being examined."