Home secretary’s comment on Pak role in 26/11 upsets PM

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has taken a dim view of Union home secretary GK Pillai’s statement directly accusing the Pakistan establishment and the inter services intelligence (ISI) for their role in controlling and coordinating 26/11 Mumbai attacks, made on the eve of external affairs minister SM Krishna's visit to Islamabad.

It is learnt that Singh was upset with the timing rather than the content of the statement by Pillai, sources said. He is understood to have told Krishna that he completely disapproved of the way the home ministry went public on Pakistan’s role in the Mumbai attacks. It could not be independently confirmed whether the prime minister personally spoke to Pillai.

Krishna had called on Singh soon after his return from Islamabad on Friday and gave a detailed account of his talks with Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and meetings with president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

He also apprised the PM of how the initial warmth and commitment to restore confidence soon evaporated once the strongly-worded statement of Pillai sounded in the middle of the talks. The warmth was replaced by tit-for-tat responses on a range of issues.

Soon, the fissures over Kashmir, contradictory views on action against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks and disagreement over Balochistan lay bare.

Krishna, on his part, told Singh that he tried to salvage the situation by telling his counterpart that there was nothing new in what Pillai had said. An update on the investigations done by the Indian agencies and also by the US authorities had already been sent and Pakistan had assured action as well.

Krishna even agreed with his counterpart that Pillai’s statement was “uncalled for”. But the damage had been done and the current round led to the fiasco.

It is learnt that Singh appreciated Krishna’s composure despite provocation. There are indications that the "mild-mannered" home secretary may not do the talking anymore on the Indo-Pak issue in future.

The prime minister’s office has also expressed surprise that officials were talking on crucial issues when the mandate to do so was with the political leadership and home minister P Chidambaram in particular.

It will now be left to the Union home minister, who had handled the situation when he visited Pakistan last month at the time of SAARC summit and established a rapport with his counterpart Rehman Malik, to undo the damage.