Raghvendra Rao
New Delhi : Two days before the Home Ministers of India and Pakistan meet for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SAARC Home Ministers’ Conference in Islamabad, the Indian government on Wednesday issued an advisory to state governments cautioning them against possible terror strikes by “groups inimical to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue”.Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Indian Express that while a general advisory, based on intelligence intercepts and reports suggesting a credible terror threat in the run up to the Indo-Pak bilateral engagement, was issued on Wednesday, the Ministry was likely to dispatch a “more specific and detailed advisory” on June 24.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is slated to fly to Islamabad on June 25 and have a bilateral meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Rehman Malik the same day. Union Home Secretary G K Pillai and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, along with Intelligence Bureau Chief Rajiv Mathur, reached Islamabad on Wednesday to engage in talks with their respective counterparts on the Pakistan side.
“There are intelligence reports that indicate that certain groups inimical to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue are planning major terror strikes in the days leading to the meeting of the Home Ministers of both the countries with an objective of derailing the talks. We have advised the states to take all caution,” an MHA official said. The advisory has been sent to all the states except those in the Northeast region, sources said.
The specific advisory which the MHA plans to issue on Thursday will list out the “potential targets” and is also expected to have more details about what to look out for, sources said. “The information we have got is being analysed right now. The second advisory will be detailed in nature and will offer security agencies a much clearer picture about what to anticipate and prepare for,” a source said.
Significantly, the February 13 bomb blast in Pune’s German Bakery had raised similar concerns in the country’s security establishment since the incident happened just 11 days before the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan were to meet for bilateral talks in New Delhi. This time, too, there is a view that some groups may go all out to perpetrate a terror strike in India in a bid to jeopardise the talks.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is slated to fly to Islamabad on June 25 and have a bilateral meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Rehman Malik the same day. Union Home Secretary G K Pillai and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, along with Intelligence Bureau Chief Rajiv Mathur, reached Islamabad on Wednesday to engage in talks with their respective counterparts on the Pakistan side.
“There are intelligence reports that indicate that certain groups inimical to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue are planning major terror strikes in the days leading to the meeting of the Home Ministers of both the countries with an objective of derailing the talks. We have advised the states to take all caution,” an MHA official said. The advisory has been sent to all the states except those in the Northeast region, sources said.
The specific advisory which the MHA plans to issue on Thursday will list out the “potential targets” and is also expected to have more details about what to look out for, sources said. “The information we have got is being analysed right now. The second advisory will be detailed in nature and will offer security agencies a much clearer picture about what to anticipate and prepare for,” a source said.
Significantly, the February 13 bomb blast in Pune’s German Bakery had raised similar concerns in the country’s security establishment since the incident happened just 11 days before the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan were to meet for bilateral talks in New Delhi. This time, too, there is a view that some groups may go all out to perpetrate a terror strike in India in a bid to jeopardise the talks.
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