India-Pakistan-retreat-into-security-of-distrust

By Simon Cameron-Moore and Bappa Majumdar

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The time-out called by India in its peace process with Pakistan gives the two countries a chance to salvage the gains of the past four years from the bitter aftermath of the militant attack on Mumbai.

Analysts say there was no way a Congress-led government, with voters baying for a retaliatory strike and an election due by May, could behave in Gandhian fashion by carrying on talks after militants from Pakistan killed 179 people in Mumbai.

India is well disposed toward the nine-month-old civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari, but distrust of the Pakistani military has become more acute than when former army chief Pervez Musharraf was running the country.

Zardari's soft words over the Kashmir dispute and his stated preference for a no first use accord on nuclear weapons have gone down well with the Indian leadership.

"They are delighted that Zardari has gone the extra mile in the last few months," said Najam Sethi, a respected Lahore-based Pakistani political analyst and newspaper editor, after a visit to New Delhi.

"Their problem is that public opinion being what it is in the wake of Mumbai, I think a decision has been taken that there should be a pause until the next government comes in."

By declaring a "pause" on Tuesday, analysts say Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had effectively asked the Pakistani leadership to choose what matters more to them: peace or protecting jihadis who want war.

Sethi believed both sides wanted to keep the so-called composite dialogue alive as it had been close to settling several territorial disputes before Musharraf's political troubles in 2007 caused both sides to go slow.

After-Dawood-Masood-and-Memon-Pak-denies-India-access-to-Mumbai-attack-mastermind

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has ruled out giving India access to Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, who is learnt to be behind the Mumbai terror strikes. Pak has said that only its authorities can question Lakhwi to ascertain whether he had any link to the attacks.

Pakistan defence minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar said India's "concerns" can be discussed through a joint investigation mechanism which Islamabad has proposed to be set up to probe the Mumbai attacks.

"May be we can have a joint investigation mechanism and find out who these culprits are," Mukhtar said.

He said Pak officials will question Lakhwi, who was arrested in the crackdown against terrorists, to find out whether there is any linkage to the Mumbai terror attacks.

Lakhwi's name figured during questioning of Ajmal Kasav, the only terrorist caught during the Mumbai attacks, by Indian investigators.

"We do not have to rush into things. We have to move slowly to get hold of the right kind of people who could be involved or are alleged to be involved (in Mumbai attacks).

I really do not know who they are. We are trying to find out. We will find out. There is no reason why we would not find out," he said.

Mukhtar said the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack are "scared" of improvement in relations between India and Pakistan.

"They are scared of these countries becoming trading partners and gaining confidence of each other," he said.

Mukhtar said the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, discussed the "pros and cons" of incidents "happening around us" and ways to continue the war against terror and to help Pakistan's neighbours fight the menace.

Taj-Hotel-Top-Story

3 terrorists killed at Taj, operations officially on

Updated at: 0953 PST, Saturday, November 29, 2008 NEW DELHI: The 59-hour siege of old Taj hotel ends with the NSG killing three terrorist who were holed up inside. NSG said they would not declare the operation over before sanitising each and every floor. "Three terrorists have been killed but we are still continuing our operations," Director General of NSG, J K Dutt, told reporters outside the hotel. On whether all the terrorists have been killed and hotel is now free, he said that it could be ascertained after the combing operation is over. During the night, terrorists holed out in the hotel engaged in a fierce gun battle with security forces as some places in the first and the ground floors of the 565-room building set afire by terrorists amid explosions in the over 100-year-old heritage complex in the Colaba area.