NEW DELHI, 30 July 2006 — Ahead of a high-level Indo-Pakistan contact, which is due to take place next week, New Delhi has once again raised fingers at Islamabad for its alleged involvement in the Bombay blasts. Dispelling apprehensions voiced in Washington about the role of Pakistan in blasts, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan told a news channel that India has evidence on this. US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher recently commented that India has no evidence to blame Pakistan for the bombings, in which 200 people were killed and more than 700 injured.
Boucher said, “The evidence ... I don’t think we have seen a lot yet... I think we need to be led by evidence before we start trying to draw conclusions and make policy announcements on it.”
When questioned on this, Narayanan replied, “Boucher did not talk to anyone of us. (But) he has made a statement... If he wished to have information, we are willing to talk to whoever wants to know the facts. He has not fallen into that category as of now.” Claiming that India has stronger evidence on the July 11 blasts than the US has on the Sept. 11 attacks, Narayanan said, “What (evidence) we have is stronger than what US had (against the Taleban) after 9/11.”
Suggesting that it is essential for the US to understand India’s suspicion of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Narayanan said, “LeT is an integral part of Al-Qaeda, but sometimes it becomes even bigger because of its contacts. We have not come across their involvement in the US but in Europe and Asia, they are very active... So the US has to pay special attention and not treat it as India-only issue.”
Under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) format, foreign secretaries will meet in Dhaka on July 31. This will be the first Indo-Pak high-level contact after the Bombay blasts earlier this month.
Their meeting will be followed by a two foreign minister level meetings in connection with the 14th SAARC Summit scheduled to be held in India next year. Indo-Pak foreign secretary level talks, scheduled for July 20-21 were called off following the bombings in Bombay.
Meanwhile, unperturbed by Indo-Pak talks having been disturbed by the Bombay blasts, people from both countries are informally playing their part in strengthening bilateral ties.
A group of students and faculty members from the Forman Christian College (Lahore), currently in India, spent a greater time at St. Stephen’s College (University of Delhi) yesterday. Here, apart from getting a taste of Indian college-life, they had lunch and interacted with their Indian counterparts.
Earlier this month, around 100 fashion and jewelry designers from the two countries displayed their exhibits in New Delhi at a show organized by the International Trade and Exhibition (ITE) group. While several Pakistan designers plan to open exclusive boutiques in New Delhi, those from India will visit Pakistan soon.
A Karachi-based designer said, “I think people here are crazy about our dresses, our kind of fabric.” An Indian designer said, “The demand for Indian colors and cuts are rising in Pakistan. I am planning to visit Lahore next month.”
This does not mean that now the major task of improving bilateral ties has been left to college students and professionals, including media persons, film celebrities and fashion designers.
Asserting that the Bombay blasts would have no impact on the ongoing efforts to establish a hotline between India’s Coast Guard and Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency, Coast Guard Director General Prabhakar Paleri recently said, “The process of installing a hotline connecting maritime forces of both nations is on. Bombay bomb blasts would not shadow the hotline plan.”
