Krishna to visit Pak on July 15

The external affairs minister, Mr S.M.Krishna, has indicated that India’s concerns on terror would also be discussed when he meets his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Islamabad on July 15.

The date and venue of the talks was firmed up Tuesday in a telephone conversation between the two ministers.

The foreign ministers’ talks follows the brief meeting between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Thimpu late last month.

Speaking on board the flight to the Kazakh capital of Astana where he is to attend bilateral talks, Mr Krishna said: “The Thimpu spirit is that we discuss everything and there are no issues that are to be kept outside.” He added, “I’m sure that Pakistan shares this concern of ours.”

The last time the foreign ministers had a meeting was on November 26, 2008 just hours before terrorists from Pakistan unleashed mayhem in Mumbai, killing around 200 people.

In Islamabad, Mr Qureshi said India and Pakistan were going into the talks with an open mind. He said: “I will not create any false hopes. I am a realist.”

The Krishna-Qureshi meeting would be preceded by the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad on June 26 for the much-delayed meeting of the home ministers of Saarc countries. When his attention was drawn to a recent suggestion by Finland’s foreign minister, Mr Alexander Stubb on third-party mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue, Mr Krishna remarked: “When we are talking to Pakistan directly, where does the question of third party mediation arise?”

Delhi on high terror alert

An alert was issued for the national capital and the areas falling within the National Capital Region by the Union home ministry on Saturday following fresh advisories issued by the US, UK and Australia warning of “imminent” terror strikes in Delhi.

The home ministry, however, stressed there is no need to panic and that “it is aware of terror threats which are not specific to Delhi”. The home ministry said an alert has been issued for Jammu and Kashmir too on the basis of intelligence inputs regarding the designs of terrorist outfits to strike over the weekend.

The Delhi Police, in response to the advisories and the alert issued by the home ministry, said it was taking “appropriate measures” to prevent any terror strikes.

The US embassy said on its website: “Terrorists have targeted places in the past where US citizens or Westerners are known to visit. Markets, such as those located in Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Mehrauli, and Sarojini Nagar, can be especially attractive targets for terrorist groups.” In a similar advisory, the UK government said, “There are increased indications that terrorists are planning attacks in New Delhi.” The Australian advisory said, “Reliable reporting indicates that terrorists may be planning to attack markets in New Delhi.”

 

Most wanted LeT operative arrested

The Hyderabad police foiled the attempts of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to organise major ‘actions’ in south India, with the arrest of its south Indian chief Shaik Abdul Khwaja alias Amjad at Afzalgunj bus stop here on Monday. The arrested man was allegedly involved in the twin blasts in Hyderabad in 2007, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

Amjad (27), who also goes by the nom de guerres of Saif, Pappu and Abdullah, hails from Malakpet locality in the old city and is accused of having close links with other terror groups like the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Commissioner of Police B. Prasada Rao told a news conference.

Mr. Rao declined to elaborate on what Amjad was planning to do in south India pointing out that the police had to interrogate him and learn more about his plans. Asked whether the terror suspect was planning something on Republic Day, the city police chief asserted that the interrogators could not cull out any such information.

He said the arrested man was a close associate of Shaheed Bilal, another terrorist from Hyderabad, who was shot dead in Pakisatan in 2007. He was involved in several terror attacks in the country and had fled to Pakistan via Saudi Arabia on the pretext of performing Umrah in May 2005. The police are planning to take him on police remand for further questioning. Authorities had seized 348 US dollars, 313 Saudi Riyals, 225 UAE Dirhams and Pakistan rupees 28,640 and 348 Bangla takas.

Police suspect that Amjad and his associates had recced certain targets in the country. He was involved in an attempt to murder over a dispute of installing a Ganesh idol in 2003 in Hyderabad. He jumped bail and escaped to Saudi Arabia.