NEW DELHI, July 8: Ahead of the meeting between foreign secretaries of the two countries in Egypt next week, India on Wednesday said it would take up with Pakistan the issue of spoofing of satellite phones used by terrorists, including the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack. “We always take up (issues) whenever something bothers us or Pakistan. We always take up (issues) mutually,” External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters here. He was reacting to reports that Pakistan was “spoofing” Thuraya satellite phones used by terrorists, making it difficult to track their movements. “Whatever Pakistan does, India has been closely monitoring those events,” Krishna said.
According to media reports, transmitters have been set up across the Line of Control and the international border dividing India and Pakistan, blanking out signals from the Thuraya phones used by terrorists. These transmitters, India suspects, could not have been set up without Pakistan’s tacit support. This makes it difficult for Indian security agencies to locate the Thuraya phones and detect infiltration or follow the movement of known Pakistan-based terrorists. “We have said that Pakistan will have to visibly exhibit its resolve to fight terror... These will be factored in our response,” Krishna replied, when asked about Pakistan’s commitment to handling terror. “It is not the question of my satisfaction. It is the question that we have to live as neighbours,” he said, when asked whether he was satisfied with the moves by Pakistan against anti-India terror outfits. Krishna’s comments come barely a week before Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets his Pakistani counterpart Salman Basheer in Sharm el-Sheikh on July 14 for a review of Islamabad’s action against anti-India terrorism directed from its soil. The foreign secretaries’ review will set the stage for the meeting between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
The review will determine the tone and tenor of the talks between the two leaders, official sources said, when asked about the possibility of resuming composite dialogue between the two countries in the near future. (IANS)
According to media reports, transmitters have been set up across the Line of Control and the international border dividing India and Pakistan, blanking out signals from the Thuraya phones used by terrorists. These transmitters, India suspects, could not have been set up without Pakistan’s tacit support. This makes it difficult for Indian security agencies to locate the Thuraya phones and detect infiltration or follow the movement of known Pakistan-based terrorists. “We have said that Pakistan will have to visibly exhibit its resolve to fight terror... These will be factored in our response,” Krishna replied, when asked about Pakistan’s commitment to handling terror. “It is not the question of my satisfaction. It is the question that we have to live as neighbours,” he said, when asked whether he was satisfied with the moves by Pakistan against anti-India terror outfits. Krishna’s comments come barely a week before Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets his Pakistani counterpart Salman Basheer in Sharm el-Sheikh on July 14 for a review of Islamabad’s action against anti-India terrorism directed from its soil. The foreign secretaries’ review will set the stage for the meeting between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
The review will determine the tone and tenor of the talks between the two leaders, official sources said, when asked about the possibility of resuming composite dialogue between the two countries in the near future. (IANS)
