Mumbai terror attack evidence handed to Pak

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New Delhi: India’s coercive diplomacy to compel Islamabad to co-operate and dismantle terror infrastructure from its soil took a significant step forward on Monday when it handed over evidence to Pakistan linking terror groups operating there to the Mumbai attacks.

As part of the offensive, New Delhi will share the proof with the world community and said it would brief head of missions based here by Tuesday on the material which it had gathered connecting elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai carnage. Indian ambassadors and high commissioners will be doing the same in their host countries.

The evidence includes confession of Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist caught alive in the attack, records of GPS and satellite phones used by the attackers and transcript of conversations between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan. It also includes details about weapons and other articles recovered from the 10 terrorists who came from Karachi and attacked Mumbai on November 26 last year.

Islamabad, on its part, said it was studying the material and would frame a formal response soon. The assurance was made to visiting US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher, who arrived in Islamabad on Monday and held meetings with Pak Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Soon after the evidence was handed over to Pakistani high commissioner Shahid Malik by foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Monday morning, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that he expected Pakistan to promptly follow up on the material provided by holding further probe and sharing the results with New Delhi. He also hoped that the ‘‘world will unite’’ in ensuring an end to cross border terrorism faced by India.

‘‘What happened in Mumbai was an unpardonable crime,’’ Mukherjee said and asked Pakistan to implement the bilateral commitments it has made at the highest levels to India and ‘‘practice its international obligations’’.

‘‘We are also briefing all our friendly countries,’’ Mukherjee said, adding ‘‘I have written to my counterparts around the world giving them details of the events in Mumbai and describing in some detail the progress that we have made in our investigations and the evidence that we have collected’’.

Home minister P Chidambaram will be visiting to the US on Tuesday night to share evidence on Mumbai attacks.