26/11 attacks case: Pakistan blames India for sluggish pace of their trial

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has blamed India in writing for the weak prosecution and slow progress in the ongoing 2008 Mumbai attacks trial in Islamabad, even suggesting LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi got bail because New Delhi couldn’t provide incriminating evidence.

In July 2015, foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan exchanged letters after a meeting between PMs Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia.

The contents of the letter from Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry — a copy of which is with HT — haven’t been previously revealed and the tone and substance suggests that Islamabadisn’tseriouslypursuing the trial. Chaudhry’s letter dated September 8, 2015 accepts that the meeting between Modi and Sharif “provided us a direction to move forward”. It points out that “the government of Pakistan has assigned a dedicated high level team of experts to closely monitor the developments in the case.

But the letter goes on to add: “So far the prosecution evidence remains weak and incomplete due to the failure on the part of the Indian authorities to provide incriminating evidence that they claimed was in their possession.”

The document puts the responsibility of providing evidence on New Delhi. “It is neither reasonable nor acceptable to blame Pakistan for the slow pace or lack of progress. It was Indian authorities’ responsibility to provide all the material evidence which has not been done.”