"Now don't go blamin' that on us!"
Pakistan has urged Indian leaders to save the infant peace process between the two countries and avoid seeking political mileage out of twin bomb attacks in Mumbai by blaming Pakistani-linked groups. "This is not the time for finger-pointing, nor should Indian leaders try to take political mileage out of this gruesome tragedy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told the BBC. "There is a thaw; and I think we should maintain the momentum that has been generated and therefore I think leaders in India should avoid issuing negative statements because these are unhelpful."
| The thaw is why the blasts took place — they had nothing to do with the Ayodhya temple. If there's a thaw in Indo-Pak relations, there's a chance Pakland will actually crack down on Hafiz Saeed and his stable of killers. Can't let that happen... |
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombs that tore through lunch-time crowds in India's financial capital Monday, killing 52 people and injuring 150. But India's Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani has linked it to the Laskhar-e-Taiba group of Muslim militants. He demanded Islamabad hand over 19 "wanted terrorists," and accused Pakistan of waging a terror campaign in India. Pakistan denied the 19 men were on its soil while its spokesman accused Advani of a "knee-jerk reaction" that ran against four months of conciliatory moves by the prime ministers of both countries.
| One of them is Dawood, who demonstrably is on Pak soil. Another's Azhar, who's also on Pak soil, leading Jaish-e-Mohammad. Without looking it up, I'd guess the rest are in Pakland, too, except for the ones that're on business trips to the UAE. If you're going to lie, at least lie about something that's not common knowledge... |
"Pakistan categorically rejects such allegations," Mr Khan said in a formal statement. "Knee-jerk reactions and blaming Pakistan for all wrongs in India is a familiar refrain that only tends to vitiate the atmosphere. It serves no purpose to point accusing fingers at Pakistan, and even worse to try to make domestic political capital from such a gruesome tragedy."
| Except that Paks are behind it, and behind them is probably the ISI... |
Pakistan denied harbouring anyone on India's wanted list, presented last year at the height of the military standoff between the nuclear rivals.
"Pakistan has already made it clear that the suspects are not on its soil ... India has so far not provided any evidence about the presence of Indian suspects in Pakistan," Mr Khan said. Lashkar-e-Taiba, founded in Pakistan but banned by Islamabad in January 2002, is blamed by India for most of the attacks on its troops in Kashmir, and for a deadly attack on its parliament in December 2001. Mr Advani said the radical Muslim Students Islamic Movement of India had been working with Lashkar and could be behind the Mumbai attacks. "The progress made by India in the past 50 years is hurting Pakistan and because of this they have waged this war of terrorism against us," Mr Advani said. |