Proof of ISI link with 7/11 given to US: Envoy

NEW DELHI: US AMBASSADOR David Mulford has said that India had shared evidence with the US on the involvement of ISI and Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the July 11 Mumbai blasts. “We had discussions,’’ Mulford told reporters here on Friday, adding that the discussions included the evidence collected by the police so far as well as other aspects of the incident.

He said the discussions were held after the Mumbai police revealed that investigations into the attacks had indicated a Pakistani hand. Mr Mulford refused to go into the details of the discussions that were held between him and Indian officials.

He added that the US and India were together in the fight against terrorism and that the US had offered help in investigations that were still going on, particularly in forensic examinations. He also said that the US is happy with the cooperation between India and US in counter-terrorism.

“We are working with the Indian government,’’ he said and added that the US rejects terrorism in any form wherever it happens. Expressing happiness at the state of co-operation in counter-terrorism between India and the US, he said it could be improved further in the future.

India, while keeping the US in the loop on the evidence collected on the Mumbai blasts, intends to hand the evidence over to Pakistan through the terror mechanism that is supposed to be set up between the two countries.

US officials in the past had told India that charges should be levelled against Pakistan only on the basis of concrete evidence. India now says it has the evidence to show that there was a Pakistani hand in the Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan’s handling of the evidence that India hands over is being seen as the first test of the new joint terror mechanism. Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon had said that the success or failure of the mechanism would be dependent on the action taken by Pakistan.

But setting up the mechanism itself has come in for a lot of criticism in the face of continued denials by Pakistan on the involvement of either its spy agency or Pakistani-based terrorists, as well as the refusal to hand over any suspects to India.