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New Delhi, Sept. 24: Sushil Kumar Shinde is likely to renew the demand for voice samples of the 26/11 handlers when he meets Pakistan’s Rehman Malik on the sidelines of the Saarc home ministers’ meet in Maldives this week.
“The usual demands will be put to the Pakistani side, the first being the voice samples,” said a senior home ministry official in Delhi about the Wednesday meeting.
Shinde and home secretary R.K Singh left for Male this morning. The home ministers’ meet is held annually.
But this will be the first time Shinde, who took over from P. Chidambaram in July, will meet Malik. The two had spoken on phone in the aftermath of the Assam violence last month when India had sought action against provocative material put on websites with alleged Pakistan links.
The meeting will come weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Ajmal Kasab’s death sentence and months after Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who allegedly tutored the Mumbai gunmen, was brought to India after being arrested in Saudi Arabia.
Indian agencies have recorded the voice samples of the handlers speaking on phone to the gunmen. The samples need to be matched with those of the 26/11 suspects arrested in Pakistan.
In February 2009, months after the November 2008 strike, Saarc ministers had signed a charter pledging to combat terror. Islamabad will be reminded that not only does it have enough proof sent by New Delhi on the involvement of Pakistanis but also an international commitment to fulfil, Shinde’s aides said.
The talks, though, will take place amid a cloud on Malik’s status. Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled last week that Malik held dual citizenship in an earlier stint as an MP. But his current term’s fate is yet to be decided and he continues in office.
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