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This is an archive article published on October 13, 2006

Will give specifics to Pak: NSA

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan today said that he and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon were working 8220;very actively8221; on the joint Indo-Pak anti terror mechanism and they hoped to have a framework ready if not in a few days, in a few weeks.

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National Security Advisor M K Narayanan today said that he and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon were working 8220;very actively8221; on the joint Indo-Pak anti terror mechanism and they hoped to have a frame work ready if not in a few days, in a few weeks. He said specific evidence will be given to Pakistan.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Narayanan, accompanying the PM on his two-nation tour, said that Intelligence officials have been receptive to the idea of the joint mechanism and were presently working out parameters and listing what sort of information and inputs could be given to Pakistan as part of the joint mechanism.

8220;The Prime Minister too is very comfortable with the idea. He has said that trust and verification should be the two things with which we should bear in mind while judging Pakistan8217;s offer of cooperation. We will give this route a shot. If we don8217;t succeed, we will set up some other mechanism.8221;

8220;I want the joint mechanism to work for a fairly long period of time so that it can be properly tested and we give Pakistan far more evidence than, say, we have been in diplomatic dialogues. Their actions will be verifiable. Specifics will be given to them in each and every case. But if we see that in all cases the mechanism isn8217;t working and there are no results, then we will have to think. Presently, a great deal depends on trust.8221;

On the support India received from UK in the fight against terror, Narayanan said that the lengthy talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Tony Blair had taken cooperation on the issue of combating terror 8220;substantially forward8221;.

He said the role of Pakistan and the evidence with India which indicates the role of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the backing of the ISI in the Mumbai blasts had been discussed with Prime Minister Blair. He indicated that the nature of the evidence was in the form of interrogation reports, intercepts and confessions but a legal view will have to be taken on what can be handed over to foreign countries.

8220;I can assure you the evidence on the Mumbai blasts is conclusive and convincing,8221; he said.

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On the developments following the nuclear test by North Korea, Narayanan said: 8220;Other than Pakistan, everyone knows India8217;s case is different8221;. He said that there had been strong endorsement of this by Prime Minister Blair. 8220;There is a strong belief that centrifuges have been supplied to North Korea in return for missiles by Pakistan. I say belief because there is no specific intelligence to show that those very centrifuges supplied by Pakistan have been used in this blast but we all know what has been going on.8221;

On the death penalty to Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru, the NSA said that since the verdict had been given by court and the accused had filed a clemency plea before the President, the Government really didn8217;t have a role to play. 8220;But now that a clemency plea is pending and various procedures have to be followed, I think October 20 the date fixed by the court for hanging may be a difficult deadline to meet.8221;

 

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