The Pakistan Foreign Minsiter, Shah Mohammad Quraishi, who was in India at the time of the Mumbai terror attack on November 26 was quick to condemn the attack and propose a hotline between the intelligence chiefs of India and Pakistan for information sharing.
The Pakistani prime minister, Yusuf Gilani, readily agreed to send the Inter Services Intelligence (Pakistani Intelligence) chief to New Delhi to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks when his Indian counterpart, Man Mohan Singh called him over the phone.
After a meeting of Pakistan’s Army Chief Ashraf Pervez Kayani, the president Asif Ali Zardari and the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani establishment suddenly realized that the ISI chief is too senior a person to be sent to India for this purpose and decided to send another representative of ISI in his place.
The question is: Is the Pakistani establishment rattled by the irrefutable evidence the Indian security services are in a position to provide with regard to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s involvement in the attack? Is the Pakistani establishment afraid that the mobile phone and satellite phone records establish beyond doubt that the attack originated from Pakistan’s soil? Or, does it fear international ramifications following the death of so many foreigners?
Anyway, the Indian Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi and told him in unequivocal terms that Pakistan had better mend its ways and take action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The government of the United States of America too has appealed to the Pakistani government to extend all co-operation to the Indian government in getting to the bottom of the Mumbai terror attacks. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, is also flying to India tomorrow to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks with the Government of India. Representatives from security services of United States of America and Australia are already here to help with the investigations into the Mumbai terror run. Other countries too have offered similar help.
The Mumbai terror attack was like no other. It is the worst terror attack on the Indian soil. The toll of Indian security forces and citizens is heavy. It killed many more foreigners than ever before. Pakistani establishment would be under pressure to do better with their investigations and some visible actions this time around.
