India replies to Pak-30 queries

Nearly a month after Islamabad sought India’s replies to its 30 questionnaires, India on late Friday handed over Pakistan detailed replies incorporated with evidences and forensic reports so as to Pakistan move forward to take credible action against the Mumbai perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon called on Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik and formally handed over New Delhi’s replies to Islamabad’s 30 questions over the Mumbai attacks contained in a 401- page dossier.

Before handing over the replies to Pakistani envoy, Home Minister P Chidambaram met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and passed it on to him underscoring answers were “comprehensive and supported by documentary evidences, including copies of CD of intercepted voice recordings of the conversation between the Mumbai attackers and their handlers, and forensic analysis reports of the accused”.

“The dossier of replies has answers supported by documentary evidence of every question that Pakistan had asked,” Chidambaram told reporters and added, “Anybody who is serious about investigating the origins of the Mumbai attacks will find that there is enough material to take the investigation forward.”

“We expect Pakistan to take the investigation forward, apprehend all the culprits and either hand them to India for prosecution and punishment or to punish and prosecute them in Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan had asked India to hand over the response by March 16 citing legal issues related to the detention of the six Mumbai attack suspects in Pakistan. “Pakistan had asked for these answers before March 16. We have given them much before that,” Mukherjee told reporters.

Statement released from the ministry of external affairs also stated: “We expect Islamabad to ensure credible justice and credible action against the infrastructure of terrorism in the country.”

Pakistan had sought India’s replies for a bunch of 30 queries it posed on February 12, after admitting Pakistan’s soil was used by militants for launching attack on Mumbai, in response to India’s dossier of evidence on Mumbai attacks which was handed over to it on January 5, saying the material was insufficient and it needed more that could stand in a court.

Among others, Pakistan had sought fingerprints and DNA profiles of all the 10 terrorists, autopsy report of the nine killed and the detailed description and information as provided by Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in India’s custody, along with its confessional statement as recorded by judicial authorities.