In response to Pakistan’s announcement that it would begin trials of the suspects held for Mumbai attacks from October 3, Indian foreign minister S M Krishna has said that India would not ‘monitor’ these proceedings.
“We cannot monitor a development taking place in a country like Pakistan,” he said, soon after the bilateral talks between the two countries concluded.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told journalists that Islamabad had arrested seven people and prosecutions would begin in October. “Pakistan wants to see this trial to a logical conclusion,” he said.
The Indian minister said that New Delhi has not set a “benchmark” for Islamabad but expected it to deliver tangible results in the investigations and prosecutions.
“We have suggested to the Government of Pakistan that the perpetrators of Mumbai must be brought to justice within the framework of the Pakistan law,” Krishna said. “That is the least that we expect from them,” he added.
When asked about the Pakistan Foreign Minister’s assertion, Krishna said “I do not have to respond to what other countries talk about Pakistan or the certificate Pakistan must have got. We have our own position vis-à-vis Pakistan.” However, having spent two hours with the Pakistani delegation, Krishna got a sense that his counterpart Qureshi appeared to be committed towards addressing India’s concerns on the Mumbai attacks. “The Minister is very serious and he was representing the Government of Pakistan,” he said.