Author: David Byers
Publication: The Times
Date: January 12, 2009
URL:
ttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5502833.ece?print=yes&randnum=1231902635574
India plans to break off business, transport
and tourist links with Pakistan and isolate it from the rest of the world
if it fails to help to investigate the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the country's
Home Minister told The Times today.
Speaking in an interview that will raise the
temperature further between the two countries, Palaniappan Chidambaram accused
Pakistan of doing nothing to assist India bring to justice the perpetrators
of the attacks on the country's financial capital, which killed 165 people
between November 26 and 29.
Asked what Pakistan was doing to help with
the investigation, in which India handed over a dossier of evidence to its
neighbour last week, Mr Chidambaram said: "Zero. What have they provided?
Nothing."
The minister - who will brief David Miliband
on the investigation's progress when the British Foreign Secretary arrives
in Delhi tomorrow - gave an indication of action that would be taken if Pakistan
continued to refuse to investigate the attacks, blamed by India on Islamic
militants with links to the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).
"There are many, many links between India
and Pakistan, and if Pakistan does not co-operate and does not help to bring
the perpetrators to heel, those ties will become weaker and weaker and one
day snap," he said.
"Why would we entertain Pakistani business
people? Why would we entertain tourists in India? Why would we send tourists
there?" Mr Chidambaram refused to discuss when such measures might be
introduced, but said: "We need co-operation soon."
Since the attacks in November, India has become
infuriated with Pakistan's apparent failure to take more aggressive action
against the Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which Indian,
American and British officials say was behind the attacks. In the days after
the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan captured two of the suspected planners, Zaki-ur-Rehman
Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, in a crackdown against the LeT in Pakistani-controlled
Kashmir, but India says it mhas done little since then.
Pakistan has also denied claims by Manmohan
Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, that the ISI was involved. India also says
that it has failed to respond to a 100-page dossier, presented to it last
week, with transcripts of intercepted calls between the gunmen and their handlers
in Pakistan during their attacks. The Pakistani National Security Chief, Mahmoud
Ali Durrani, was dismissed last week only hours after confirming that the
lone surviving gunman was Pakistani.
Yousaf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani Prime Minister,
further infuriated the Indian Government by carrying out interviews saying
that the attacks were related to the disputed territory of Kashmir, comparing
Pakistanis living there to the Palestinians in Gaza.
"Gilani is living in a world of his own
if he brings Kashmir into this," a senior Indian government source told
The Times. "The simple fact is that Pakistan is a failing, but not yet
a failed, state. That is what he needs to address."
During his three-day visit to India, Mr Miliband
will meet Mr Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs Minister,
to discuss terrorism and climate change. He will also speak at theTaj Mahal
and Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai, both of which were among the buildings attacked
Mr Miliband's visit comes after Gordon Brown
visited Delhi last month to express his condolences and solidarity after the
attacks.
