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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Talks with Pakistan to continue despite 26/11 revelations: Krishna

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New Delhi, April 13 :External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday said talks with Islamabad will continue even though Pakistani-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Hussain Rana and accomplice David Headley have reportedly admitted that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was involved in masterminding the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Both Headley and Rana, in their testimony to US interrogators, have accepted working on behest of the ISI and the Pakistani government, reports said.
Asked if the revelation will change the Indian government's stand, Krishna said the two issues were different.
'Peace talks will go on, cricket matches will go on and simultaneously our relentless efforts will continue to bring to justice all those responsible for the heinous crime against India in Mumbai. These are two different aspects,' Krishna said.
He said the Rana and Headley's confession will be taken up with the Pakistan government.
'We will certainly take it up. We are in constant touch with the Pakistan government through our diplomatic channels,' he said.
Asked about India's earlier stand that talks will not proceed in absence of credible action against terrorism from Pakistani soil, he said 'I have said that both these things will have to go on... just look at the Sharm el-Sheikh declaration.'
The Sharm el-Sheikh declaration signed in 2009 delinked peace talks between the two countries and the action taken against terrorism.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani
watched the World Cup semifinal between the cricket teams of two countries last month.
Both countries have also resumed the dialogue process on various sectors from March, after India suspended composite dialogue after 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that left 166 people dead.
Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the government for not acting strongly on the issue.
'BJP demands that Indian government should build pressure to make Pakistan accountable for ISI and government's role in Mumbai terror attack. The government should really capitalise on this opportunity to expose the direct role of the Pakistan government,' BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters.
'The Indian government should expose Pakistan's fraud in front of the world. We condemn the government for bending under pressure and not doing so,' he said.

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