Seeking to take the ‘Thimphu spirit' forward, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will travel to Islamabad on Friday for a two-day visit, during which he will discuss greater regional interaction on combating terrorism with his counterparts from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.
Mr. Chidambaram will also seek more vigorous investigation by Pakistan into the role of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on the basis of interrogation of David Headley, a Pakistani-American suspected of reconnaissance of sites for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Soon after arrival, on what will be the first Indian Ministerial visit since the November 2008 attacks, Mr. Chidambaram will have bilateral talks with Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Both leaders are expected to focus on bilateral mechanisms to curb terrorist activities. India will also seek greater focus from Pakistan on prosecuting the Mumbai attacks accused, especially LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and the handlers who directed the attackers.
Mr. Chidambaram will also ascertain the progress made by Pakistan in investigating the leads provided by India in the 10 dossiers submitted from time to time. Both sides will also consider measures to foster people-to-people contacts by a more liberal visa regime and other measures to reduce the “trust deficit,” pointed out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after meeting his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Thimphu, Bhutan, in April this year.
Official sources said though Mr. Chidambaram's prime focus is to attend the SAARC Interior Ministers' conference, his visit should be seen in the context of Dr. Singh's Thimphu resolve to hold high-level interactions, aimed at reducing misgivings between the two countries. While Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao held talks with counterpart Salman Bashir on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will visit Islamabad on July 15.
On the SAARC front, Interior Ministry officials from the eight member countries have already begun deliberations aimed at moving from the declaratory to the implementation phase on security issues. They will seek to strengthen police coordination in the region to curb criminal gangs and terrorist groups indulging in violence and trafficking of narcotics and humans.
The conference will also consider invigorating two centres for exchanging intelligence on drug trafficking and terrorist activity —SAARC Terror Offences Monitoring Desk and Drug Offences Monitoring Desk —besides the need for some countries to ratify the SAARC Mutual Legal Assistance agreement on criminal matters.
The meet is also likely to take up the theme of maritime security, an aspect that is of concern to island members of SAARC, such as the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
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