By Eric Eisenberg
AsiaInt Weekly Alert
8/08/08
While terrorism, food security, and the energy crisis headlined the agenda of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Colombo, the Indo-Pakistani conflict stole much of the spotlight as Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani of Pakistan met for the first time to discuss relations between the two countries.
Meeting during the evening on 2 August, Singh and Gillani discussed the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on 7 July, as well as clashes between Pakistani and Indian border troops on the Line of Control in Kashmir that violate the two nations’ ceasefire that began in 2003.
Despite claims by Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon that the talk was "candid and frank", their conversation was not without tension as Singh continued to level accusations that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence was responsible for the attack on the Indian embassy, an allegation that Gillani denied and referred to as "not only surprising but shocking".
"There were also bombing incidents in Pakistan subsequently but we have not pointed fingers at anyone as we believe in carrying out investigation before laying the responsibility," Gillani said following the meetings. "It is important that blame-game is avoided as both countries have institutionalised a counter-terrorism mechanism which is working satisfactorily."
In late July, during his visit to the US, CIA director Michael Hayden presented Gillani with evidence of ISI involvement in the attack in the form of an intercepted phone call and was warned of "serious action" by President George W Bush should the organization’s actions continue to go unchecked.
While not accepting blame, Gillani agreed in his meeting with Singh to begin an independent investigation into the events. Details were not given regarding a time-frame or how the investigation would be held.
"We stand ready to fulfil our obligations in this regard and hope to see similar commitments from other countries of South Asia," Gillani said.
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