Since the last formal talks with Pakistan in 2012, India has added 15 new names to a fresh list of fugitives to be handed over to the neighbouring country during the National Security Adviser-level talks scheduled for Sunday. India has also prepared a 1,000-page dossier on Udhampur attack accused Mohammad Naved, which will be shared with Pakistan.
In 2012, India handed over a list of 50 fugitives said to be in Pakistan. This time the list has surged to 65.
A senior government official said since 2012, at least 15 persons with links to terrorism and involved in serious crimes have taken refuge in Pakistan and India will make a fresh bid to press for action against them.
India has also formulated a strategy to dismiss any comparison between the Samjhauta Express blast, in which 42 Pakistanis were killed, and the Mumbai terror attack citing the role of state actors in the latter incident.
The Indian side will also confront Pakistan with evidence that the three terrorists who carried out attacks in Gurdaspur and the two terrorists who struck in Udhampur, had sneaked in from across the border for the attacks, an official said.
India will give the exact address of Naved’s residence at Faisalabad in Pakistan. “If they counter that Naved is not a resident of Pakistan, we will ask them to provide us his Indian address. We also have the names and addresses of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camps he attended in Pakistan,” said the official.
Deportation of Dawood Ibrahim and speedy trial in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case are some of the key issues to be raised by NSA Ajit Doval with his counterpart Sartaj Aziz during the talks next week, the official said.
Mr. Doval is expected to point out that while the Mumbai carnage was carried out at the behest of and with active involvement of Pakistani state agencies, there was no such aspect in the Samjhauta blast, the sources said.
All suspects in the Samjhauta case, including Swami Assemananda, are in jail and the trial is on track, the sources said.
On the other hand, the trial in the 26/11 case in Pakistan is going nowhere and all prime accused, including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, are roaming freely.
Besides, Islamabad had not acted upon the Letters Rogatory (a formal request from a court to a foreign court for judicial assistance) sent in connection with the Mumbai terror attack case.
The statement given by Naved, who was arrested in Udhampur, is likely to be given to the Pakistani side, an official said. In his statement, Naved has said that LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and persons appearing to be Pakistan Army officers visited the terror camp once in a while and gave them motivational speeches.
Naved has said he belongs to Rafiq colony in Tokianwali of Ghulam Mohamadabad in Pakistan Punjab’s Faisalabad district. He sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir on June 6-7 along with three other LeT terrorists through the Nuri post in Tangmarg. They were received by a militant called Abu Obaida, who handed over them to another LeT militant Abu Kasim.
Naved had first undergone 21 days’ terror training at an LeT camp at Gari Habibullah and later three-month training at the Sahwai Nallah camp at Makaziallah.
Pakistan protests against ‘ceasefire violations’
For the second time this week, Pakistan summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad to complain against “ceasefire violations” by the Indian security forces in J&K.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, said the Indian Deputy High Commissioner was called in by the Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) to protest against the “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by the Indian forces in the Harpal Sector. Officials in Islamabad claimed that firing by the Indian side resulted in the death of a civilian, Muhammad Shareef.
