Raghvendra Rao Posted online: Sat Jun 26 2010, 08:20 hrs
Islamabad : Hours before his scheduled meeting with Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said he intended to convey to Islamabad the “gravity of issues”, the “need for a response” and that “the time had come for Pakistan to address issues with the seriousness they warrant”.Speaking to reporters on board a special flight to Islamabad, Chidambaram, referring to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said: “I intend to take the opportunity to discuss the matters that have concerned us for 18 months or more.”
He, however, stressed that India was not going to say anything in its bilateral interaction with Pakistan that could cast a shadow on the SAARC Interior Ministers’ Conference.
Asked whether he intended to deliver a message to Pakistan during this visit, the first by an Indian Home Minister in over three decades, Chidambaram said he only intended to raise some matters “politely and firmly”.
On whether Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed was likely to figure in his talks with Rehman, he said, “Hafiz Saeed is one among them. There were controllers, there were handlers (during the 26/11 attacks). We need to know what action they (Pakistan) intend to take against them. These matters cannot be ignored forever. Somebody has to address these issues sometime or the other.”
Confirming that India was hoping to get voice samples of LeT leaders like Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, so that it could match them with the handlers who were in touch with the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai, Chidambaram said, “Surely they can give us the voice samples of the handlers. It is universally acknowledged that the handlers were in Pakistan. We think we know who the handlers were. Surely, they can give us voice samples. We have recordings on our side.”
On the matter of voice samples, he also said that the Pakistan government had, in the past, conveyed that some of the people “had declined to give their voice samples”. Stating that the matter was likely to discussed during the talks, he recalled that at one point of time he suggested that Pakistan give the voice samples to a third country for forensic analysis.
Asked whether he would raise Pakistani-American terror suspect David Coleman Headley’s role in the 26/11 strikes, Chidambaram said, “Not directly. We have got information on Headley. I will use that information subject to the limits under which we have gathered it.
Chidambaram, who flew into the Chaklala air base on VT-BSF (the special plane of the BSF), was received by Rehman Malik who then escorted him out in a chopper.
A while later, Malik received Chidambaram at the Interior Ministry office in the Pakistan Secretariat where the latter inspected a police guard of honour. Both leaders then had a one-on-one meeting for 40 minutes.
Chidambaram also visited the Pakistan Foreign Office where he met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
He, however, stressed that India was not going to say anything in its bilateral interaction with Pakistan that could cast a shadow on the SAARC Interior Ministers’ Conference.
Asked whether he intended to deliver a message to Pakistan during this visit, the first by an Indian Home Minister in over three decades, Chidambaram said he only intended to raise some matters “politely and firmly”.
On whether Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed was likely to figure in his talks with Rehman, he said, “Hafiz Saeed is one among them. There were controllers, there were handlers (during the 26/11 attacks). We need to know what action they (Pakistan) intend to take against them. These matters cannot be ignored forever. Somebody has to address these issues sometime or the other.”
Confirming that India was hoping to get voice samples of LeT leaders like Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, so that it could match them with the handlers who were in touch with the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai, Chidambaram said, “Surely they can give us the voice samples of the handlers. It is universally acknowledged that the handlers were in Pakistan. We think we know who the handlers were. Surely, they can give us voice samples. We have recordings on our side.”
On the matter of voice samples, he also said that the Pakistan government had, in the past, conveyed that some of the people “had declined to give their voice samples”. Stating that the matter was likely to discussed during the talks, he recalled that at one point of time he suggested that Pakistan give the voice samples to a third country for forensic analysis.
Asked whether he would raise Pakistani-American terror suspect David Coleman Headley’s role in the 26/11 strikes, Chidambaram said, “Not directly. We have got information on Headley. I will use that information subject to the limits under which we have gathered it.
Chidambaram, who flew into the Chaklala air base on VT-BSF (the special plane of the BSF), was received by Rehman Malik who then escorted him out in a chopper.
A while later, Malik received Chidambaram at the Interior Ministry office in the Pakistan Secretariat where the latter inspected a police guard of honour. Both leaders then had a one-on-one meeting for 40 minutes.
Chidambaram also visited the Pakistan Foreign Office where he met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
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