New Delhi, February 19
Even as a four-member Pakistan High Commission team rushed to Deewana in Panipat for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation following last night's terrorist attack aboard the Samjhauta Express, the External Affairs Ministry said it had sent the passport details of the Pakistani nationals travelling in the train to Islamabad for verification.
Emphasising that the perpetrators of the heinous crime would be brought to book, the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry said a number of Pakistani nationals had been killed in the incident and many of them charred beyond recognition.
Condemning the blasts in the train killing at least 66 persons, the spokesperson said the exact number of Pakistanis and Indians killed was not clear as identification was under way. "We convey our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the gruesome tragedy and every effort will be made to bring to justice the perpetrators of the heinous
crime."
Simultaneously, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan had been put on fast-track issue of visas to the next of kin of those killed or injured. The government would also arrange for their travel to Attari and then on to Panipat and Delhi.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri is arriving here
tomorrow to attend the Indo-Pak Joint Commission meeting on Wednesday. After the Joint Commission meeting, Mr Kasuri will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of the Opposition, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr L K Advani and Mr Jaswant Singh. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali on a visit here condemned the terrorist attack on the Attari Express and expressed condolences and sympathies to those killed in the carnage.
Mr Jamali, who pointed out that the peace process was restarted during his reign as Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2003, maintained that it should be continued and strengthened. “It is the responsibility of the Governments of Pakistan and India to ensure that the peace process is not derailed,” Mr Jamali added.
The Pakistan High Commissioner in India Shahid Malik visited the Safdarjung Hospital here to inquire about the injured admitted in the burns department.
There were 10 burn victims, including two women, from Pakistan. Their names were: Abdul Qayyum (56 years-Karachi), Hafiz Mohammed (15 - Karachi), Shameem (6), Ramesh Kumar (40 - Sialkot), Ashok Kumar (21 years), Nadeem (10 - Sindh), Ruksana (40 - Faisalabad), Rana Shaukat Ali (46), Aqsa (1 ) and Muhammad Shakeel (25 - Mirpur Khas).
Meanwhile, the United States has termed the attack on the Samjhauta Express as a “deliberate act” and observed that “such acts could only strengthen the resolve to defeat terror and achieve peace.”
“The US Government is shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of lives caused by the deliberate act of terrorism on the Samjhauta Express linking Delhi and Lahore,” an embassy statement said.
The Samjhauta Express derived its name from the historic Simla Agreement of 1972 between then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as part of confidence- building measures between the two neighbours.
The train undertook its first journey in July, 1976, as a daily link between Amritsar and Lahore. Having acquired the symbolism of peace and friendship, the train has been talked about as the target for terrorists.
The train was interrupted for about a fortnight following operation Bulestar at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar in 1984 and later for a similar duration after the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in December 1992.
Subsequently, from a daily the train has been turned biweekly since 1994 which leaves the Capital every Sunday and
Wednesday. This was done after reports that the train was being used for smuggling contraband and fake currency surfaced. The train service was cancelled indefinitely from January 1, 2002, in the wake of the terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.
It was resumed on January 15, 2004, as part of the confidence-building measures initiated by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf after the January 6, 2004, joint statement on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Islamabad to restart the peace process.
The Samjhauta Express was the sole train link connecting the people of the two countries till the Thar Express connected Munabao in Rajasthan with Khokrapar in Sindh in Pakistan last year.
