India will respond to Pak when necessary: Pranab

Monday, February 23, 2009

Posted by Snehsan

New Delhi : Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee has said it would respond to any information sought by Islamabad in connection with its investigation into the Mumbai terrorist attacks case.
“Whatever information we get from Pakistan, we respond to it. But information must be made available through official channels and not through media,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi on Monday. Mukherjee added that India would cooperate “as and when it is necessary” but ruled out a joint investigation in the attacks. “As far as joint investigation is concerned, I have told you we are having investigation,” Mukherjee said.

In reply to India’s dossier on the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad has reverted back with a list of 30 questions answers to which it considers crucial to its probe. Indian agencies have said they would respond to the questions and are in the process of preparing their reply.

Sea route may be used for nuclear attack: Navy chief

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Posted by Snehsan

New Delhi : A nuclear attack by terrorists?

This may no longer be confined to celluloid fiction as India sounded out a grim warning on Wednesday.
“The container would be the most likely means for terrorist organisations to illegally transport a nuclear weapon,” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said. The use of the sea in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai may just be a trailer. The Navy Chief has pointed out a key vulnerability that terrorists may want to exploit, and that is, India's inadequate port security, and the lack of means to scan shipping containers. “None of the Indian ports is CSI compliant,” Mehta revealed. The US-led Container Security Initiative is stuck in politics. India opposes the intrusive provision of US Customs officials supervising scanning at Indian ports. But the Navy Chief wants the Government to find a way out. “The airport security system has been working fairly well over a large number of years. And a similar system for containers would have universal acceptance,” Mehta suggested. The only good news is that the Cabinet has approved the unified functioning of all maritime security agencies, all of which will now report to the regional Navy boss. “To bring about greater coordination there will be a joint operation centre which will function from both the coasts. We will have a composite control over deployment of all maritime assets,” Mehta said. A handful of terrorists with powerful state mentors are forcing the world to change its security architecture.

After Modi, Advani says can’t rule out local hand in Mumbai attacks

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Posted by Snehsan

New Delhi: Echoing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani today said a “local angle” to the Mumbai attacks “could not be ruled out”, and demanded a “thorough” judicial inquiry covering “this aspect of the conspiracy as well”. “Is it true that one Fahim Ansari, said to be a Goregaon resident, was arrested in connection with this attack in November 2008? It is believed that he said during his interrogation that such an attack was being planned, and that his associates had even done a recce of the areas. One of his associates, Sabahuddin Ahmed, was arrested in April 2008. It is apparent that their preparations for the attack were on for a year. It is impossible that they could have carried out such a big operation without any local support,” Advani said in Parliament. At a recent BJP conclave in Nagpur, Modi had said: “Attacks like 26/11 couldn’t have happened without local support... The UPA Government is quiet on this aspect because of vote-bank politics.”