NEW DELHI:
India’s External Affairs Minister SM Krishna confirmed on Thursday that there were no changes in the meetings with Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar in the wake of Wednesday’s serial blasts in Mumbai. Similarly, Krishna said, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s India itinerary will remain unchanged.
“The talks with [Pakistan] are proceeding as scheduled,” said foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash. “There has been a heinous terrorist attack on Mumbai and we have duly noted the message of condolence from the president and prime minister of Pakistan.”
A date has yet to be finalised for the talks in New Delhi between Krishna and Khar, but Prakash said it would be in the last week of July. Clinton is scheduled to arrive in India on Monday for the second round of Indo-US strategic dialogue. She will also travel to Chennai for a public function.
Condemning the serial blasts in Mumbai, Krishna said on Thursday that it was a grim reminder that terror continued to be a threat.
“The city of Mumbai has been rocked by blasts. It’s a grim reminder that terror continues to be a threat. We need to be vigilant all the time,” Krishna said, adding that Maharashtra will do all in its power to bring the culprits to book.
Washington has also ruled out any change in Clinton’s itinerary during her upcoming trip. “Stays as planned … Nothing is going to change due to Mumbai blasts,” said US charge d’affaires Peter Burleigh when asked if any changes were being made in the travel programme of Clinton.
Severed head found
Investigators say they have found a severed head at the site of one of the blasts, indicating that it was caused by a suicide attacker. A certain ‘level of sophistication’, hitherto unseen in previous attacks, was seen in Wednesday’s three rush-hour blasts.
Using the monsoon
Sources said that the group that mounted the blasts knew better to communicate via phones or emails. It was familiar with Mumbai’s commercial areas and understood how to use the heavy Mumbai monsoon to its advantage. Security cameras at the locations of the three blasts, say Mumbai police officers, have not revealed any clues. Umbrellas conceal many faces caught on camera. A steady drizzle makes it tough to spot anything at all for large parts of the footage.
Amid this grim and unsettling scenario, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrived in the city on Thursday night and were briefed on the situation by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Speculate nothing, says minister
Earlier, Home Minister P Chidambaram appealed to the opinion leaders to not speculate on the identity of groups or groups that were behind the Mumbai attacks.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2011.
COMMENTS (37)
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Pakistan requires powerful relationships with various countries. This is vital for the country to survive.
@Ravi-India:
OMG who on earth ever told u that? lol rest assured we dont think the balochistan issues are due to indian involvement.. ahahhaha i cant believe theres a misconception over this
@A well wisher: Read the article above.
@ Sam Then, the same applies to Pakistan, wherein you people assume that, all trouble in Balochistan is India's creation. The problem is due to policies of your govt.
@anand singh:
even if it is tracked to pakistan question is what was your intelligence doing when such plots were being made.. what where ur armed forces doing when these millitants crossed border and entered india?... Every country should and can only ensure safety for its own people.. India should ensure a more secure environtment for its people.. and it should do so by strengthening its intelligence and securing its borders..a little less focus on pakistan and its own internal issues will help out alot.. clearly india is becoming an easy target for terrorists due to lax security
@Moise: What utter poppycock. Who has impied that these recent bomb blasts are of Pakistani origin. It is all in your mind. Perhaps a guilty conscience? Hope for between our countries and not war. In any war every one loses.
Cannot help but wonder how different is that situation when the ' talks ' are on from when they are ' off " ?
It is more for the gallery.
Post these attacks in Mumbai ,if / when the attacks are traced to Pak that's when the fun will begin . The opposition will play hell into the Govt.
The good move by the both Govts. Unlike usual finger pointing, it is mature reaction. What is happening in Karachi and whom their army is fighting in tribal areas are evident enough to indicate that the curse of terrorism has penetrated deep inside in Pakistan, how can we expect its help to India. Therefore if we target their govt then we are pushing them in to tight corner and strengthening the hands of enemy of humanity i.e terrorist. There are evidence that whenever there is chance of normalization of relation then something happens like this, somebody do not want these country to live peacefully. DEFEAT THAT FORCE.
quite mature
@Pakistani: Bro, When a poor farmer has some of his land occupied while the rest of what he has is banjar (infertile) He will try to make a living out of his infertile land first and make it fertile. The govt has us busy in Kashmir issue while they have been busy in looting us .. the Army needs it because its an excuse to get more budget. Should we not first develop what ever land we have? why not give priority to 180 Million people's lives first and give them better future. Anyways, If Kashmiris want to live free its their right and they can achieve it by themselves It won't give bread, electricity, healthcare and education the rest of 180 million people.
@Nirvan: Your first part of statement is myopic and naive If Indian media is making people blind they can always go and check facts online .. watch their demo videos online in which they carry our flags not Indians. But yes your second statement is correct ... we need to give them some space now .. they should be let to run their own businesses .. enough of this fighting over land nonsense .. What ever the native people of Kashmir decides in majority it must be respected by outsiders read India & Pakistan.
@Arindom: I have cancer but heyy you also have a rash
Talks are in any case a pointless exercise. No solution will come about. Pakistan will remain inimical and hostile and seek to destabilise India. India should be happy so long as there is no shooting war. Beyond that, factor in Pakistan's cussedness and concentrate on building up the economy. All the fancy talk is quite meaningless. The stronger India's economy grows the better the chances of Pakistan seeing reason in some distant future.
@ET what the hell.... why are u so incapable of posting moderate and reasonable posts?? why just the extreme ones?
@Pakistani:
And no justice to the Baloch? Why the special treatment?
@Pakistani: This is exactly the kind of attitude that we don't need... Pls try to refrain from your 'Macho man' like comments
This is a very responsible statement by the indian higher authorities. I am happy both the countries are trying to work out things. Lets hope we can bring stability in this region and prosper as a nation.
Shouldn't you(India) investigate it first before implying Pakistan has something to do with it?
During the talks, Pak's side will keep talking about Kashmir issue and Indian side will talk about 26/11. And there will be no progress except talk and more talk. Talks don't cost anything and they are cheap.
These talks are held just to fool the international community. Actually, India is just happy with the present scheme of things, as they have nothing to lose.
If you observe, we are the ones to beg for resumption of cricket ties with India. In India, no one has uttered a word so far on having cricket series with Pakistan. That's the reality.
@mubashir: That would have been fine if it wasn't for the fact that ISI was involved in previous attacks. Would you call them "non-state actors"? But this Indian government is too spineless to act anyway. My vote goes to BJP in the next elections.
the terrorists would have won had the talks derailed.saleem shehzad mentions in his book that jihadis planned 26/11 to incite both the countries to war so that they themselves could get a breathing space.
@Pakistani in US:
no clearly thats u! pakistani media has more freedom than almost any other media of the world... especially if u compare it to the US media... my point beig that the average joe who reads the news paper has a better and more 360 degree view of global and national events than americans... and that my dear is a fact!
@pakistani Are you living under a rock? Mindless rhetoric. This is written for people like you: http://tribune.com.pk/story/207380/kabhi-apni-shakal-dekhi-hai/
If both countries keep their cool as mature people and issue a statement that says "Such cowardly attacks will not derail the peace process" then the attackers, if they were anti peace, would be defeated. How can one attack innocent people going about their business in the market and then be able to sleep. Such people are animals.
Kashmiris do not want any merger with Pakistan, perhaps with India as the prospects are better, economically. Perhaps the two halves of Kashmir should be free to administer their future, but they will be landlocked like Nepal and will depend upon the neighbours to facilitate trade. I am glad there is no finger pointing yet. The three blasts were perpetrated by enemies of of both Pakistan & India, who do not want to see peace. Who gains from perpetual friction and stands to lose when both people are free to cross border and trade. The answers may be obvious and lets hope cool heads prevail and peace talk continue while both countries combine efforts to find the perpetrators.
Thank God for the talks to go on, otherwise the terrorists (no matter who they are) would have won. Let us have patience and give all the help and sympathies to the victim’s families. Ultimately the truth would come out and the perpetrators should severely be punished. Let us hope and pray that this naked and clod blooded killing of innocent civilians does not derail the peace process.
India's state policy of blame Pakistan first and then do an investigation
@from India: give justice to the victims of kashmir gujarat and punjab, everything will be fine. Blaming on Pakistan will not sort your problems. If you still dont agree than just try, bring your fire power we r ready.
The story says:-
India did not break off "diplomatic relations". Only the "talks" were put on hold.
i'm glad the talks are going on... as i think one of the main purposes was to derail the talks... if it was someone from Pak, then our govt. should make sure they are given exemplary punishment!
Much appreicated...sense prevails
Getting muture both countries may allah help them.
There hasn't been any connection to Indo-Pak relations in yesterday's blast, so why a clarification was needed??!! Weird 'clarification' by Delhi!!
It will be very childish to call off talks when the process of collecting evidence for yesterdays(13/7) Mumbai bomb blasts is just starting. Better to complete the talks speedily while the going is good.
much appreciated ....but this time if its found out to be emanated from Pakistan then I think the Pakistani govt. must suitably chastise the perpetrators or hand over them to India instead of setting them free for lack of evidence !!