Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Jalil Jilani visited India on July 3rd and assured New Delhi of full cooperation and support in its fight against terror. On July 4th he met with his Indian counterpart Ranjan Mathai to discuss the allegations that have arisen from the arrest of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari (Abu Jundal), who was deported by Saudi Arabia earlier. Jilani denied the allegations of state involvement in Mumbai attack, terming them baseless.
“I would very strongly reject any insinuation of any involvement of any state agency in acts of terrorism in India,” Jilani stated
“It is no longer possible to deny that though the incident happened in Mumbai, there was a control room in Pakistan before and during the incident,” Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram had earlier commented.
The debate over state sponsorship has arisen at a time when American lawmakers initiated a bill in the House of Representatives on June 28th, urging President Obama to declare Haqqani network a terrorist organization. The designation will make provision of any support to the organization unlawful.
The bill and the accusation of state sponsorship in the case of Mumbai incident can be seen as a pressure tactic on Pakistan to extract more cooperation in the fight against extremists. Moreover, many experts believe these actions are preparatory steps towards having Pakistan declared a state sponsor of terror.
