India Rejects Pak's Offer of Joint Probe Into Parliament Attack

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 17, 2001

India Rejects Pak's Offer of Joint Probe Into Parliament Attack

India on Sunday rejected Pakistan's offer of a joint probe into the attack on Indian parliament last Thursday, saying that Islamabad had already shown its lack of "seriousness" by blaming Indian intelligence agencies for the attack.

In an interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI), Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abullah said the incident, which killed 13 people, was enough of an "eye opener" for the world about Islamabad's nefarious designs to keep the South Asian region "unstable."

Abdullah virtually ruled out India's strike against militant camps in Pakistan for the time being, saying this was not the "first and immediate option" available with New Delhi.

"We are not a country eager for a fight. Hot pursuit is not ourfirst and immediate option but the same is not ruled out if diplomatic channels fail," he added.

Indian Foreign Secretary Cholila Iyer summoned Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi Ashraf Jehangir Qazi a day after the attack and asked Islamabad to stop the anti-Indian activities of two militant organizations, allegedly based in Pakistan.

Delhi Police Commissioner Ajal Raj Sharma announced here on Saturday that the mystery behind the terrorist attack on parliament complex had been cracked.

He declared that the main suspects of the attack were all members of the two Islamic groups, Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Abdullah said that New Delhi was following the standard rules laid by the United Nations and waiting for Pakistan's response to India's demands.

He made it clear that it was not necessary to take military action at the moment to flush out terrorists since it could risk afull-fledged war with Pakistan.

Pakistan condemned the terrorist action almost immediately after the attack last Thursday and sought credible evidence from India about any involvement of Pakistani individuals and groups inthe incident.

While asking New Delhi not to take any hasty action before handing over the evidence to Pakistan, Islamabad sought a joint investigation into the attack.

On Saturday, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell asked India to desist from a military response to terrorist camps across its border, saying that tension in Indo-Pakistan relations had the potential of "becoming very dangerous."

In a telephone call to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee just a few hours after the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin also reportedly sought to discourage New Delhi fromlaunching any retaliatory strikes against Pakistan.

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