Pak creates ground for NY talks, books Saeed

Ahead of the meetings of the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan followed by the foreign ministers’ meet in New York next week, Punjab (Pakistan) police registered cases against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and his close aide Abu Jandal under the country’s tough anti-terrorist act late on Thursday.

New Delhi is sceptical of this move as it believes that it is being done ahead of foreign secretary Nirupama Rao’s meeting with her counterpart Salaman Bashir. Foreign ministers SM Krishna and Shah Mahmood Quereshi will meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meet in New York only if there is some forward movement from Pakistan to track those responsible for the Mumbai attack.

Though Hafiz Saeed is not being booked for the Mumbai attacks and has not yet been arrested, Pakistan will say that they have done their best to put him behind bars on whatever grounds. The point is he will be kept out of circulation.

Pakistan hopes that action taken against Hafiz Saeed will convince India that the government is doing its best to track down the Mumbai terror masterminds. Indian officials refused to comment on the move, saying they were waiting to see what finally happens. “It is a step in the right direction, we just hope he is arrested and put away,’’ an official said.

Ever since the Sharm-el-Sheikh fiasco, India and Pakistan have seen no forward movement in their relations. After the flak he received over the joint statement, prime minister Manmohan Singh is not in a position to do much, unless there is sincere effort by Islamabad to take action against their citizens involved in the Mumbai attack.

According to PTI, first information reports (FIRs) were filed against  Hafiz Saeed and Abu Jandal, but none of them were related to the Mumbai terror attack. India regards the JuD chief as the main brain behind 26/11.

Last December, the UN Security Council proscribed Saeed who was placed under house arrest.

A Lahore court later freed him on the ground of insufficient evidence. Islamabad claimed that New Delhi had not provided sufficient evidence to nail him. India said there was lack of political will because there was enough material against the JUD chief.

The FIRs against Saeed and his aide were registered at police stations in Faisalabad, for inciting people to wage jihad against infidels, a senior police officer was quoted by PTI as saying.

While Islamabad is under pressure to bring the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attack to book, New Delhi is also being persuaded to keep engaging in talks with its western neighbour.

The fact that both India and Paksitan have nuclear arms is a cause of worry for the US. Senator Arlen Spector has said in a letter to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, “If the current tension between India and Pakistan could be eliminated or reduced, Pakistan may be persuaded to increase its military forces to aid us in the fight against the Taliban.”