External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, quoting Lashkar activist David Coleman Headley's disclosures on the Mumbai terror act and asserting that it was time Pakistan acted on the “overwhelming evidence of an irrefutable nature'' provided by New Delhi.
In the first remarks that he read out from a prepared text after landing at the Chaklala airbase, Mr. Krishna said: “I also look forward to receiving feedback on the issues raised by our Home Minister during his visit to Pakistan last month on our core concern of terrorism, particularly in the light of the discussions our Home Minister had in Pakistan in the context of the interrogation of David Headley regarding the Mumbai terror attack.''
Later in a brief interaction with the Indian media ahead of the dinner hosted by his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Mr. Krishna again brought up the Headley disclosures.
The Pakistani-American “was interrogated in the U.S. by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hence, India cannot be faulted for that. I'm sure Pakistan would have taken due note of what he has revealed and we naturally expect a response from Pakistan. I'm here to find out what that response is.'' His visit marked the “beginning of a new journey in our efforts to build a peaceful, friendly and cooperative relationship.''
“We want Pakistan to be a stable, prosperous country so that India can be at peace with it, so that we can concentrate on our developmental issues.''
Mr. Krishna refused to comment on the Pakistani reaction to Home Secretary G.K. Pillai's statement that there was a clear hand of Pakistan's ISI in the Mumbai attacks.
