BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said today that the wounds of Mumbai terror attack have not healed as yet. She asked Islamabad to take India’s request for voice samples of the 26/11 accused with “utmost seriousness.”
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“Yes and no. I think my answer would bridge both these concepts. The wounds of 26/11 have not healed as yet. I think we would do wrong to the people who lost their lives and the families that continue to grieve as a result of what happened so tragically in Mumbai, if we were to say that 26/11 is behind us,” Nirupama Rao said.
She was asked if the deep wounds of 26/11 have healed or is it India’s position that the time has come to move on.
“There is an ongoing trial in Pakistan; there are questions still to be answered; there is evidence to be scrutinised; there is need for agencies in both countries to cooperate better in this regard. The home secretary of India and the interior secretary of Pakistan have just had a good meeting, a positive meeting. So, we are trying to build on that.
“Obviously the wounds of 26/11 will not heal easily. I think there is sentiment in this country in India and there is grief still which has not died. Let me put it this way. Our grief cannot die when it comes to 26/11,” she told Karan Thapar in an interview for TV channel.
“The yes side is that…. we have to engage with each other across a wide range of issues that need to be addressed,” Rao said.
On India’s request for voice samples of the 26/11 accused, the foreign secretary said, “We do not want them to fob us off obviously on this. We are very serious about this matter.
“When the home secretary met his counterpart this was reiterated. And as you know, when our home minister was in Pakistan last June and when he spoke to Rahman Mallik this point was emphasised. So, we would like the Pakistanis to treat this with the utmost seriousness.”
India’s request for voice samples has already been turned down by a lower court in Pakistan and the government there is now appealing to a higher court.
