ISLAMABAD, 17 October 2006 — India has provided no evidence of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Bombay train bombings in July, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said yesterday, urging New Delhi to desist from blaming Islamabad.

“India has no right to accuse Pakistan without any proof,” state media quoted Aziz as telling reporters. He said no evidence had yet been provided to Pakistan. “Whatever is happening in India is their internal matter,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a visit to London, last week said that New Delhi would provide Islamabad with evidence of Pakistani involvement in the blasts.

Pakistan has already rejected the Indian claims and Lashkar-e-Taiba has also denied involvement in the bombings. The group is fighting against Indian rule in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Aziz reiterated that Pakistan strongly believed that peace in its immediate neighborhood was vital for stability in the region and also for itself.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan at breakthrough talks in Havana, Cuba, last month agreed to resume negotiations on the disputed territory of Kashmir and jointly battle terrorism.

Meanwhile, at a weekly briefing yesterday Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said Pakistan would abide by the UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, but had not imposed any of its own measures after Pyongyang’s declared nuclear test.

She said Islamabad had been in favor of talks to resolve the nuclear issue, but since North Korea disregarded the international community and carried out the test, Pakistan has decided to join hands with the international community and abide by the sanctions.

She, however, added that Pakistani officials “believe that sanctions are not an end in themselves and we would like to see the six-party talks resume at the earliest to find a solution to this crisis.” Pakistan would also continue to cooperate with North Korea in areas that were outside the sanctions. The statement comes days after President Pervez Musharraf denied that illegal proliferation by nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan allowed North Korea to carry out its test. “As a responsible member of the international community, we will abide by the UN Security Council resolution,” Tasnim told a weekly briefing. The council unanimously passed Saturday’s resolution which allows nations to stop cargo going in and out of North Korea to prevent any weapons trafficking amongst other measures.

Tasnim added that Pakistan had not imposed its own sanctions against North Korea — unlike Australia, which has banned North Korean-flagged ships from its ports.

“We had cooperation with them in various fields and we will maintain diplomatic relations and continue cooperation in the areas which do not come under the sanctions,” she added.

Commenting on Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta’s remarks that Pakistan was trying to play down the threat of international terrorism by labeling the Taleban uprising in Afghanistan as an ethnic issue, Tasnim said, “We are not playing it down, but we certainly differentiate between peaceful people who are Taleban (madrasa students) and militant Taleban. She said the majority of Taleban were Afghan Pashtoons. We fail to understand why the Afghan government does not realize this factor.” She said Taleban are more active in Afghanistan than in Pakistan. Afghan security forces have strong support of NATO troops and they should put their house in order.

Eight Pakistanis Freed by US

Eight Pakistani prisoners released by US authorities from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and Bagram air base detention center in Afghanistan arrived in Islamabad yesterday by a special plane, media reports said.

All eight, two from Guantanamo Bay and six from Bagram, were detained by Pakistani security authorities immediately on arrival for questioning, a routine exercise with prisoners returning from the two prisons.

Officials told Arab News, “Five Pakistanis are still detained at Guantanamo and 15 at Bagram air base.”