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LUCKNOW: Going by all the publicity blitz and hype, UPCC Coordination Committee’s meeting on Thursday turned out to be quite a tame affair.Contrary to the expectations of partymen that special invitee Rahul Gandhi would be unfurling the blueprint of the much mentioned Mission 2012 , the three-hour jamboree proved to be nothing but a mix of staid rhetorics about “revamping the organisationa l structure and need for concerted launch against the communal and fissiparous forces”.
The star of the show — Rahul Gandhi — mostly played the part of a good listener. The young MP, insiders said, spoke sparingly. But he did spring a few surprises like meeting the MLAs on one to one basis rather than calling them en block. MLAs reportedly sputtered and faltered like school children facing the Gandhi scion who earnestly demanded to know the burning issues facing their constituency.
After deliberations and exchange of thoughts, two major resolutions were passed by the committee.

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s real test that it is acting against India-specific terror will come when it acts “decisively” against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna has said.
In an interview with Times of India, Krishna indicated that foreign secretaries’ talks would be “futile” if Pakistan did not create a “favourable” atmosphere.
The sentiment is a marked departure by India from the Indo-Pak joint statement that said foreign secretaries would meet “as often as necessary”.
“Unless they address our concerns on terror and as the PM put it, create a favourable atmosphere for talks, talks will be futile. For any talks you have to build a favourable atmosphere, trust needs to be built up.”
“In its absence, regardless of how many times the PMs or foreign ministers meet or foreign secretaries meet, it will have no impact. Pakistan should address our terror concerns, move decisively against those people named by India, and then tackle them accordingly. This will be the first indication to the government of India that they are moving decisively to tackle terror,” the minister said.
Asking Pakistan to “come clean”, Krishna said, “We have provided, according to our judgment and assessment, enough evidence to punish anybody for terror-related activities. We know for a fact that Hafiz Saeed is the mastermind of Mumbai attacks. We also know that UN Security Council has passed a resolution where Hafiz Saeed has been named a terrorist.” Equating the al-Qaida and LeT, Krishna said he saw a pattern in their targeting of India.
“The al-Qaida and LeT are all different names but they work in tandem for the same purpose ? to destabilise India and divert our attention from the path of development. I’m afraid the whole exercise of these terror activities from Pakistan is to divert us from our progress,” he said.
“We should put them on notice,” the foreign minister added. “We want Pakistan to bring the same kind of seriousness that they are employing against the Taliban in Swat to the terrorists against India.”

The worst fears of some of us have now been confirmed. Pakistani society, politicians and media has always been talking about the involvement of Indian intelligence agency RAW in fomenting trouble inside Pakistan . First it was in Sindh, particularly in Karachi . Now people say there is no doubt about Indian involvement in Balochistan and some say that RAW is also supporting Baitullah Mehsud in NWFP. Questions are being raised on unusually high number of Consulate offices opened by India in Afghanistan . The involvement of CIA and Mossad is also not ruled out. There is a speculation that Baitullah Mehsud could not have survived for so long since the US drone attacks began if it was not for the support of one or more of foreign intelligence agencies and/or military help.
Asif Ali Zardari has now openly admitted that the Talibans are creation of Pakistan . The terror that Pakistan exported has now come back to it. Until it was limited to NWFP it was not seen as a major problem. But now that it has the potential of taking over Islamabad , Rawalpindi and Lahore even the military and intelligence which were not too keen on taking on the home grown terrorists have been forced, partly because of US pressure but primarily due to threat it poses to them, reluctantly but decisively to come around to confront them. When Zardari makes a bold statement he obviously has the approval of military and intelligence.
The terrorist groups in Af-Pak region whether al-Qaeda, Taliban or Lashkar-e-Toiba were propped up by the US and Pakistani governments. They received arms & ammunition, money and training from military professionals. The association of terrorist groups with Pakistani government during the military regime was so close that some former military officials are part of terrorist set ups and terrorists have infiltrated the Pakistani establishment. One reason why the governments, whether Punjab or Federal, in Pakistan is reluctant to take action against Hafiz Saeed, the LeT founder, is that he can become a cause of much embarrassment for the establishment there if he decides to open his mouth.
But the question is after the present Pakistani establishment has made up its mind to confront the terrorist groups and US has relentlessly pursued the terrorists even going to the extent of launching attacks inside the sovereign territory of Pakistan, how are the terrorists holding fort? One would assume that the lot which was trained to fight the Russians would be old enough to be combatants now. So, even if there is supply of money from Saudi Arabia or somewhere or plenty of drug trafficking money is available, and there are youth from central Asia, southern Punjab (Pakistani) and from all around the world ready to be trained as jehadis who is providing them the training in use of modern methods of warfare? Is CIA playing a double game? Peace in the area would make the justification of US military presence in the region untenable. And it is no secret that US wants to be involved not only in the Af-Pak region but also in Kashmir . We’re not talking about George Bush. We’re talking about Barack Obama. Even before Obama’a victory results became public he had already announced his intention of appointing a Kashmir aide. Why on earth is an uninitiated US President interested more in Kashmir than his own country?
But what would be disturbing for most educated self-righteous middle class Indians, who have always seen India as a peaceful country and Pakistan as source of all trouble, is the revelation that India could have a role in instigating violence inside Pakistan . The joint bilateral statement issued from Sharm-el-Sheikh has reference to Pakistan having information on threats to Balochistan. Pakistan sees it as diplomatic victory. The response in India is that of shock, especially from the hawks. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has displayed rare courage and insight in saying that he is willing to discuss any issue with Pakistan . He has also encouraged Pakistan to take action against perpetrators of November 26, 2008, incident in Mumbai without linking it to resumption of composite dialogue. As a leader of the senior (in terms of experience with democracy) and bigger nation only he could have been expected to be magnanimous. And he has lived up to his role. He has breached the parochial approach which constrains progress on India-Pakistan official relations.
Manmohan Singh has merely acknowledged something which is common knowledge in Pakistan . But Pakistan will have to provide concrete proof of RAW’s involvement in Balochistan or elsewhere in Pakistan just like India has done in the case of Mumbai incident. But this is only a trivial matter. It is an open secret that ISI and RAW have been working at cross purposes.
What Manmohan Singh has achieved as a statesman is that he has set out to define a new paradigm in which India-Pakistan relations will be discussed. For the first time in the history of the two nations he has laid the grounds for India and Pakistan to work together to solve the common problems, including that of terrorism. The US has already given an indication of this by asking India to provide help to Pakistan . And why not? If India can develop close ties with Afghanistan and provide financial help to it and Pakistan can derive help from the US , India and Pakistan , if they can shed their historical baggage, can cooperate as friendly neighbours. Pakistan , where receiving US aid is a government policy now, can enjoy a more democratic relationship with India . Can we conceive of RAW and ISI working together, like both of them have a working relationship with CIA, to root out terrorism from the region? Pakistan , being the smaller and more insecure of the two nations, would warn up to India only if it feels comfortable. The long adversarial relationship between the two has dried up all the trust. Manmohan Singh has certainly made Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan feel that they can do business with India .

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday defend the joint statement with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani agreeing to de-link the issue of terrorism from future composite dialogue.
The joint statement issued after the two leader met in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16 also had a reference to Balochistan, where Pakistan accuses India of fomenting an insurgency. New Delhi denies the charge.
Although, the Indian PM sees it as part of the efforts to improve ties with Pakistan but the opposition has been gunning for him, calling the joint statement as a ‘sell out’ to Islamabad.
Opposition parties including the BJP and Left saw the statement as a departure from New Delhi’s stand that a resumption of dialogue could only take place if Pakistan acted against the militants it believed were behind last year’s Mumbai attacks.
Singh appeared at a new conference shortly afterwards, ruling out resumption of talks with Pakistan until the Mumbai attackers were brought to justice. But critics said the damage had been done.
The BJP slammed the government both inside and outside Parliament, with its leader L K Advani saying the government had “capitulated” and conceded too much and led a walkout of his party in the Lok Sabha.
“The Prime Minister must answer why he agreed to a joint statement that disrupts a national consensus that dialogue cannot resume against Pakistan unless strong measures against militants are taken,” Sushma Swaraj, BJP’s leader in Lok Sabha said.
The CPI(M) said there was “new confusion” now after action on terror was de-linked from dialogue, while the CPI supported the government saying there was no shift in India’s policy and that resumption of talks was important.
Ahead of the debate in Parliament, the Congress has closed ranks behind him on the approach to Pakistan.
“There is no issue at all. The party is firmly behind the prime minister,” Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also clarified that there was “no dilution” in India’s position.
But analysts said many members of party saw his policy on Pakistan as risky in a country where distrust of its nuclear-armed neighbour runs deep and any concession is viewed with suspicion.
“Privately there is enormous pressure from within the party on Manmohan Singh for signing that joint statement, but they will stick together as resuming peace talks with Pakistan is very much on the cards,” said Amulya Ganguli, a political analyst.
Both countries have broken off a four-year-long formal peace process after the attacks on Mumbai, which India blamed Pakistan-based militants were behind the attacks.
Islamabad denies state agencies had any role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people and says it will prosecute those accused of involvement in the attacks.
But Pakistan wants India to return to peace talks without conditions such as action against Mumbai attack planners and militant groups.
The United States also wants the two sides to return to a dialogue so that Pakistan can concentrate on fighting the Taliban and al Qaida militants on its western borders.
Reflecting its continuing concerns over New Delhi, Pakistan said India’s launch of its first nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying ballistic missiles was “detrimental to regional peace and stability.

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the voices of dissent within the party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has endorsed Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s initiative on Pakistan and has conveyed this to senior leaders and ministers, party sources said here on Saturday.
The joint statement of the prime minister with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt last week was discussed at the Congress’ core committee meeting here Friday night.
According to the sources, Gandhi told the party leaders that the Congress should stand united on Manmohan Singh’s initiative and that she endorsed it. The prime minister, meanwhile, assured that the government would have all the answers on the India-Pakistan statement.
Several senior ministers, including former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, are said to be upset over the joint statement seeking to delink terrorism from the composite dialogue between the two countries.
“Some ministers are particularly unhappy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement,” said a source. But party leaders have refused to go on record in view of the sensitivity of the issue.
The meeting was held at the prime minister’s residence and was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, among others.

NEW DELHI: Aiming to stem the controversy over the inclusion of Balochistan in the India-Pakistan joint statement, home minister P Chidambaram has asserted that New Delhi has “nothing to do with Pakistan’s internal affairs”.
“We have nothing to do with Pakistan’s internal problems, why should we get involved?” Chidamabaram said in a TV interview.
He was replying to a question on the contentious move by India to allow a mention of “threats to Balochistan” in the joint statement which was issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt July 16.
Although Pakistan has been accusing India of fomenting trouble in its resource-rich southwest province for decades, this is the first time Balochistan has found mention in a joint statement between the two countries.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some experts have slammed the government for “conceding” to Pakistan on the Balochistan issue and have contended that its mention in the joint statement is tantamount to giving credibility to Pakistan’s allegations.
Manmohan Singh has, however, defended the move saying the joint statement was merely taking cognizance of what Pakistan said at the Egypt talks and stressed that India was ready to discuss the issue as it has nothing to hide.
At a meeting with senior party leaders here Friday evening, Congress president Sonia Gandhi backed the prime minister on the issue.
A recent Pakistani media report claimed that Islamabad had given to New Delhi a “dossier” about India’s involvement in Balochistan during talks at Sharm-el-Sheikh. Official sources here have vehemently denied the sharing of any such dossier.
“Our hands are clean. We have nothing to hide,” the sources said.
If Pakistan wants to bring up its “internal issue” in bilateral talks and internationalise Balochistan, India does not have any issue with it, the sources added.

MUMBAI: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday said there had to be “justice” for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, even as she noted that India’s contribution towards the fight against extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would be “very helpful”.
“I believe that there has to be justice. There has to be a full vetting, thorough analysis of what happened, who was behind it – just as it would be with any terrorist attack,” Clinton said in an interview.
Clinton who is on a five-day visit to India, arrived in Mumbai Friday night. After a day -and-a-half of appointments in India’s commercial capital, the highest ranking official of the Barack Obama administration to have visited this country will reach New Delhi Sunday.
Clinton said that there had been an “evolving attitude” in Pakistan in the last six months, with both the government and society understanding the dangers of fighting terror groups. She said the Pakistan Army’s efforts against terror groups in Swat and other parts of the country were “sincere, effective and committed”.
“We are very clear that we think it is imperative that Pakistan go after all the terrorists groups because for no other reason than that any one of them is actually a threat to Pakistan,” she pointed out.
Further, she added that terror groups now were aiding each other. “Therefore, no terrorist group can be left alone or forgotten. Every one of them should be the target of intense law enforcement and justice efforts,” Clinton said.
She said that “bringing the understanding which India has to the table in dealing with the problems in Afghanistan and the extremist threat in Pakistan would be very helpful”.
“Everything that we can do to protect India from terrorism (we will do) and India can help in our fight against extremism in Afghanistan and what Pakistan is now doing will be very welcome and important,” she contended.
Noting that India was not just a regional, but a global player, Clinton said, “India has a tremendous opportunity to work to resolve problems regionally and work with other nations, including the US, on global challenges that we face. How India decides to do that is upto India.”
She dismissed US involvement in bring together India and Pakistan to the table on the Kashmir issue. “The decision has to be between India and Pakistan and of course taking into account the feelings of the people of Kashmir… Our role is not to be involved other than support the process that India and Pakistan may decide to enter into”.
On the India-US civil nuclear deal, Clinton said that she was “committed to (its) full implementation”. But, she said that she wanted to engage with Indian leaders on global non-proliferation efforts.
On a lighter note, she admitted that she was “attracted to India”. Pointing out that both she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had made multiple trips to this country, she said: “There is something about the dynamism of the people, the dedication to democracy, the commitment to doing better all the time, (that) is inspiring”.
“And I can’t really express it. The feeling in my heart that makes me very happy to be here. It’s a place that I feel very comfortable with,” Clinton said, adding that she loves Indian food.

NEW DELHI: Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh Friday said Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has assured that there is complete unanimity of views in Pakistan against the war on terror.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Singh said secretary level talks will be undertaken between the two countries.
He said that ‘meaningful dialogue’ with Pakistan will depend on Islamabad fulfilling its promise of acting against the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror strikes.
He made this statement amid uproar by the Opposition BJP blaming the Government of capitulated to Pakistan on the terrorism issue and agreeing to return to talks delinking the issue of talks with composite dialogue.
However, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not satisfied with prime minister’s assurance and staged a walkout from the Parliament.
“You have delinked terrorism and the composite dialogue. Why have you taken seven months to decide on this?” queried BJP leader LK Advani before leading his party members out of the lower house of parliament.
Earlier on Friday, BJP termed as ’sheer betrayal’ and ‘U-turn’ India agreeing with Pakistan that terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and said it was done under international pressure.
“This step by India has come as a shock. It is sheer betrayal and U-turn by the government. They are buckling under international pressure,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told PTI.
He said Pakistan has shown “no signs” of controlling terrorist activity against India from its soil. This was clear from the continued terrorist activity in Kashmir and on the Indo-Pak border.

NEW DELHI: Inidan External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that New Delhi will not resume dialogue with Pakistan till punishment to the perpetrators of Mumbai terror strikes.According to Indian media reports Indian minister said that “we expect Pakistan to come out with certain concrete measures which are visible so that people of India and the world at large could realise Pakistan is serious about punishing those culprits behind Mumbai attacks and then reassuring India that such incidents will not occur.”