'Pak should hand over at least a few'

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday made it clear that Pakistan should hand over at least some of the accused in the 7/11 Mumbai bombings if the anti-terror mechanism has to move forward. This message to Islamabad was spelt out by national security advisor (NSA) MK Narayanan.

The Mr Narayanan said India would be giving to Pakistan specific locations, names and telephone numbers (of terrorists). “If Pakistan delivers on some, even if not all, then at least we will feel the mechanism is reasonably successful,” Mr Narayanan told a TV channel.

Implicit in this is a demand that Pakistan should hand over Azam Cheema, the number three man in Lashkar-e-Taiba, who allegedly co-ordinated the Mumbai bombings.

The Mumbai police have been maintaining that the LeT bombers were trained in a terror camp in Bahawalpur, the home turf of Maulana Masood Azhar, the amir of Jaish-e-Mohammad. The LeT camp in this area is run by Cheema.

Mr Narayanan said pretty good evidence of ISI’s involvement in the Mumbai blasts would be shared with Pakistan after certain legal issues are clarified, and hoped this would be done before the foreign secretaries of the two countries meet in New Delhi on November 13.

He said it would be an opportunity for Pakistan to prove its sincerity towards the anti-terror pledge. “Pakistan has always told us if you give us the evidence, we will help you with the investigation. Now, we are giving them an opportunity to prove in deed what they have said in words. From our point of view, we see it as an opportunity.”

That there is a conscious effort to de-emphasise the anti-terror mechanism was evident when the NSA indicated that it will not be a high-profile body.

He said the mechanism would mostly deal with ongoing investigations and sharing of information and could look into issues like money laundering. The mechanism, he said, will be headed by a special secretary or additional secretary, and function as and when required as it is meant to deal with terrorism.

The NSA said the mechanism is aimed at putting Pakistan on the spot and that Islamabad will be be given a fair opportunity. “If every time we give them information, we get a negative answer, then we know the mechanism is not working and we have to see what to do,” he said.

That there was no scope for any concessions was also made clear by Mr Narayanan. “It is possible that in the first case, or even in the second case, they may not get back to us.

But if it happens in every case, we will be clear the mechanism is not working, and we can tell Pakistan and also the rest of the world, there is no point in talking to them. Once we feel the mechanism is not working, we will call it off,” the NSA said.

The government’s concern that the projection of prime minister Manmohan Singh’s comment that Pakistan too was a victim of terrorism involved a huge political cost was evident when Mr Narayanan sought to correct the impression. “He was not equating what was happening in Pakistan with what is happening in India, or that we feel that Pakistan is responsible for most of the terrorist attacks.” he said.