Despite the early connections being drawn between Saturday?s terrorist bombing of Pune and suspected Lashkar operative David Headley, the government has decided at the highest level not to make any hasty inference on the perpetrators of the attack, and to press ahead with the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks on February 25.
High-level sources said the view in the government is that there is no point in linking the talks with terror attacks. Pakistan-based groups have not desisted from striking India irrespective of whether India and Pakistan have been talking, so, on balance, it is better to keep channels of communication open and use them to address terror-related issues, than to stop the conversation.
While the BJP has taken the line that terror and dialogue cannot go together, the government feels that all earlier experiences with stalling talks by linking them to action on the terror front have failed to produce desirable results. Instructions have therefore been passed that there should be no ?knee-jerk reactions? from officials, and no finger-pointing until this case has been solved.
Preliminary explosive reports show that the Pune bombers used ammonium nitrate along with RDX?a chemical cocktail that has been used by more than one group in the past?but a confirmation will be available only after a detailed forensic analysis. Top sources involved in monitoring the investigation said the explosive device did not appear to be very sophisticated. But the mention of Pune in Jamaat-ud-Dawa ideologue Abdul Rehman Makki?s address to a rally recently is being seen with concern.
South Block sources said that from India?s perspective, terrorism was always going to form the ?core of the talks? with Pakistan. However, New Delhi is also conscious of the fact that several groups and elements are keen to derail this engagement.
It is learnt that investigating officials have been asked not to arrive at ?instant conclusions? on the basis of Headley?s travels and the fact that he did survey the Koregaon area where German Bakery is located. While this is an important backdrop for the investigators, the government wants a proper scientific investigation to pick up the trail and trace the attackers.
The obvious link to Headley automatically adds the Pakistan dimension to the attack. But sources emphasized that it was important first to complete a thorough investigation, following which, if any Pakistan links are empirically proven, India might refocus its priorities.
However, the broad consensus even after the meeting between the Prime Minister and home minster on Sunday was that engagement with Pakistan must not become hostage to terror attacks.