New Delhi, June 2
India’s worst fears have come true. Pakistan has once again ratcheted tension with India and given a body blow to any prospects of the resumption of the bilateral composite dialogue by allowing Hafiz Saeed, founder of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), to walk away a free man after his acquittal by a court.
Also, India has also not taken kindly to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani raking up the Kashmir issue at a meeting with representatives of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
An enraged India expressed disappointment over the release of Saeed, said to be one of the masterminds of the 26/11 attacks, saying the action raised questions about sincerity of Islamabad’s investigations into the conspiracy that planned, launched and executed the Mumbai carnage. “Pakistan has yet to report the progress of the investigations that it had committed to undertake into that conspiracy,’’ an External Affairs Ministry statement said.
Both External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Home Minister P Chidambaram also regretted that Pakistan had not shown the degree of seriousness it should to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. “Pakistan’s sincerity in dealing with cross-border terrorism is still under a cloud,” Krishna said.
