Was there a Pakistani dossier?

The Big debate of the Pakistan Dossier that has created headlines in the Pakistani media is a serious dampener. If there exists one should be made public and India will be happy to answer one such. This Times Now report details on how and why there would / wouldnot be a pakistani dossier but for the piece of imagination of a few on the otherside of the border.
23 Jul 2009, 1337 hrs IST
Was there a Pakistani counter-dossier? That is the question being asked now, as the Indian government rejects the report and the Pakistani media continues to insist that a dossier containing details of India's involvement in fomenting trouble in Balochistan and other areas was shown to the Prime Minister by his Pakistani counterpart Gilani during the Sharm-el-Sheikh meeting. However the Pakistan government has refused to confirm or deny this report.

The Indian government today rejected on record reports in the Pakistani media that a dossier of proof of India's involvement in Balochistan had been handed over Manmohan Singh. The Pakistani newspaper Dawn had suggested that this ‘counter-dossier’ was behind the much-criticised inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement.

However speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW, Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor said that he was not aware of any dossier of any kind being received by the government. Tharoor further added that if any such dossier existed, the government would surely examine it.

“I have not seen this dossier myself, if there is a dossier I am sure the competent colleagues in my ministry are looking at it, and I am sure that when we have studied it we would have a suitable response,” said Tharoor.

Regarding other “preposterous” charges in the media, Tharoor said: “It is not wise for us to react to media reports. But we don’t believe that deflecting responsibility for things that are happening in a dysfunctional state, to their neighbours who have conducted themselves very differently, is a very healthy a thing.”

Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur told reporters, “First and foremost it’s (the news report) a wrong statement, there is no dossier that has been circulated. There is no dossier that has been handed over either to External Affairs or to our government. It is a media report by which we are going.”

The Opposition has hit out saying that the government shouldn't have included Balochistan in the agreement in the first place. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “By one stroke you have given some kind of palpable legitimacy to the government of Pakistan to allege on the international forum that India foments trouble in Balochistan. Hence this inclusion in the badly drafted joint declaration. We feel very sorry and it would have long term implications for our reputation and prestige in the world and also in the fight against terror... Why did you include Balochistan in the joint declaration? On what basis, with what objective and what concern, unless to give some kind of impression that India is also behind Balochistan trouble? Don't forget one thing: Akbar Bukti, that great leader of descent in Balochistan was killed by Pakistani forces two years ago in cold blood. And yet you wittingly or unwittingly have agreed that India is behind that.”

However, the controversy over the counter dossier handed by Pakistan to India has only deepened after the Indian government’s denial, with the Pakistani Dawn newspaper claiming that prime minister Gilani had confirmed the existence of the dossier. In an exclusive chat with TIMES NOW a a senior Dawn correspondent said Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had himself handed over the documents to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when they last met at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt, adding that India had also confirmed receipt.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Foreign office has also refused to comment on the dossier that was reportedly given to India. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basir has said that they will not react to media reports, and that the meeting between Gilani and Singh was “confidential”.

The Pakistani media claims that according to the dossier that was handed over to India, not only is India held responsible for the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and Manawan police academy, it also describes Indian arms and explosives used in the attacks. On the issue of Balochistan the dossier states India is maintaining a terror training camp in Kandahar from where trained Baloch insurgents are sent into Pakistan.

Also, the dossier reportedly lists the safe houses being run by RAW in Afghanistan. The dossier reportedly claims to have attached proof of RAW operatives who were allegedly in touch with perpetrators of terror attacks. The dossier also reportedly points to an Indian connection in terror financing in Pakistan.

Pakistan has long accused India of fomenting trouble in Balochistan. Both Prime Ministers last week at Sharm-el-sheikh had differed on including Balochistan in the joint statement.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How a cyber attack hampered Hong Kong protesters

‘The chances of nuclear use are minimal. Both Russia & Ukraine are well aware of results’: DB Venkatesh Varma

Pak off FATF Grey List; ‘Black Spot’ on Fight Against Terror Irks India; J&K Guv Says 'World is Watching'