As suspicions continue to be voiced about the involvement of Pakistan-based militant groups in recent terror strikes, India and Pakistan will hold a series of meetings, including the second round of talks under the joint anti-terrorism mechanism, over the next two weeks. The first meeting will be about Conventional Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and will be held here on October 18. The Indian side, which includes representatives from the Union Defence and Home Ministries, will be led by TCA Raghavan, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. The Pakistan side will be led by Aizaz Ahmed Choudhary, Director General (South Asia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The agenda includes steps to deal with persons who cross the border inadvertently, an agreement to prevent incidents at sea and other CBMs. The next day will see a meeting on Nuclear CBMs where existing and new measures will be taken up. Issues that will come up for discussion include a review of the implementation of existing agreements and security issues in multilateral forums, an MEA statement said. The Indian side will be headed by Additional Secretary in MEA KC Singh and includes representative from the Defence Ministry, Department of Atomic Energy, National Security Council Secretariat and Defence Research and Development Organisation. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khalid Aziz Babar will lead the Pakistan delegation. But the meeting of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism on October 22 will attract maximum attention. There have been terror strikes in Hyderabad, Ajmer and Ludhiana since the first meeting in Islamabad in March.Security agencies probing the Ludhiana blast suspect that it could have been executed by groups like the Babbar Khalsa International, that is alleged to have close links with Pakistan’s ISI. Islamic terror groups could also have been working in tandem. The role of HuJI Bangladesh, whose commander Shahid Bilal is allegedly based in Pakistan, has also come up in connection with three recent terror strikes —- the Mecca Masjid attack, the Hyderabad twin blasts and the explosion at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti’s shrine in Ajmer.
