Onus on Pak to unveil 26/11 conspiracy, says Krishna

New Delhi, Sep.10 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday put the onus of unveiling the conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks on Pakistan.

While confirming that the foreign secretaries of the two countries – Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir – would be meeting in New York on the sidelines of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, Krishna ruled out having any meaningful dialogue with Islamabad till it took concrete steps to nail those responsible for last year’s terror strike.

Krishna also said that he would be meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York.

He said Rao and Bashir would discuss the progress made on the investigation of the 26/11 attacks and prosecution of those arrested in connection with it.

“It is in our vital interest to normalize our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship that it wants to have with India,” Krishna told the Editors Guild in New Delhi.

“Clearly, the onus is on Pakistan to unveil the conspiracy,” he said, adding India had sought to “assist” them in that task by providing vital evidence.

He said Pakistan is safeguarding terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed and that the Indian Government was in no doubt that he was the brain behind the Mumbai terror attack.

Krishna underlined that terrorism would remain his focus when he meets Qureshi.

New Delhi maintains that it has given enough evidence to Islamabad for it to prosecute the 26/11 accused.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is currently in the United States briefing the Obama administration about the steps New Delhi has taken so far vis-’-vis the 26/11 probe, has categorically stated that the Pakistan Government is holding up the trial of Saeed and other state actors. (ANI)

Krishna visits Melbourne’s Railway station where Indian students were attacked

Melbourne, Aug.9 (ANI): External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Sunday visited Sunshine train station in Melbourne, where several Indian students were targeted by mobs a couple of months ago.

Krishna was briefed by a senior police officer about the extra security measurements taken at the station.

“By and large I think there are so many other considerations which have led to this attack on Indian students,” SM Krishna said during a news conference about the motive of these attacks.

“In India itself we will have to take some measure like regulate unscrupulous agents to ensure students understand what is in store for them when they go abroad to study,” Krishna said.

Australian police told Krishna that the attacks had not been racially motivated and blamed Indian media for labelling the incidents as ‘racially motivated’.

New security cameras have since then been placed to outwatch security at that train station.

Krishna also met Victoria’s premier John Brumby.

Indian students, generally working until late hours and travelling alone with valuables such as iPods and mobile phones form “perfect preys” for the mobs and they are not the only foreign students who were targeted, Australian police said in its earlier statements.

An Australian current affairs programme last month also unveiled scam visa agents and education institutions targeting foreign students.

The reaction to both the attacks and the scams is seen as a major threat to Australia’s 3rd largest export.

Krishna’s visit has come at a time when Australian Government announced its review over the education system.

On Friday, Krishna met with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and got reassurances from the top end of the Australia’s political scale.

Kishna is undertaking five-day visit to Australia. (ANI)

India asks Pakistan to take action against Mumbai terror attack perpetrators

Cairo (Egypt), July 14 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna has said that New Delhi would like a visible response from Islamabad, which should have commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Sharm-al Shaikh here last night, Krishna said that India wants an assurance from Pakistan that acts of terrorism engineered from Pakistan soil will not be repeated.

He expected that Pakistan would give an undertaking that their soil will not be used again for such acts.

“Terrorism threatens democracy and democratic values…It is also a threat to international peace and security,” he said.

Earlier, Krishna said that Pakistan was sending conflicting signals on punishing the perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks, which occurred last November.

Krishna also criticised Islamabad for not taking concrete steps to challenge a Pakistani court’s order to release Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who is also wanted for Mumbai terror attacks.

In another move, Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan Shivshankar Menon and Salman Bashir are likely to review the progress made by Islamabad to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been under considerable stress and the prime cause for it are terror acts emanating from Pakistan. (ANI)

S.M Krishna to visit Australia

New Delhi, July 2 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna has said that he would visit Australia soon.

Issues related to safety of Indian students in Australia are expected to top the agenda of discussions.

Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, Krishna said that the dates of his visit are being worked out.

He further said that the government has asked its High Commission in Australia to check the veracity of a media report that around 27 Indian students had died there last year due to various causes.

The attacks on Indian students in recent weeks caused some diplomatic discomfort between the two countries and sparked angry protests in India. Australia’s government condemned the attacks and is launching an inquiry into them.

Indian students believe that the attacks are “racist”, while Australian authorities consider them crime-related. (ANI)

Bhutan Prime Minister to arrive in India today

New Delhi, June 30 (ANI): Bhutan Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley will arrive here today on a four-day visit to strengthen ties between the two countries.

During his visit, Thinley will meet President Pratibha Patil and his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Bhutan Prime Minister is also scheduled to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani.

On Wednesday, Mukherjee will call on the visiting dignitary at 11.15 a.m. Thereafter, the Bhutanese Prime Minister will call on President Patil at noon.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will call on Prime Minister Thinley at 4.15 p.m., while Advani will meet him at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., he will meet Sonia Gandhi.

Delegation-level talks between the two countries will take place at Hyderabad House on the same day at 7.15 p.m.

Thinley visited India last year after taking over as Bhutan’s first democratically elected Prime Minister. He, thereafter, visited India in November 2008 to participate in the 2nd BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi. (ANI)

Bhutan PM to visit India for four days

New Delhi, June 29 (ANI): Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley, will pay a four-day working visit to New Delhi from June 30 to July 3, 2009.

He would be the first Head of Government to visit India during the second term of the Prime Minister, Dr. manmohan Singh.

Prime Minister Thinley had paid a state visit to India in July 2008 as the first democratically elected Prime Minister after Bhutan’s historic transition to a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy. He, thereafter, visited India in November 2008 to participate in the 2nd BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi.

During his visit, Thinley will call on President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and meet with Dr. Singh, Sonia Gandhi,the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna.

e will arrive in the Indian capital on Tuesday morning. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will call on him at the Hotel Taj Mahal at 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will call on the visiting dignitary at 11.15 a.m. Thereafter, the Bhutanese Prime Minister will call on President Patil at noon.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will call on Prime Minister Thinley at 4.15 p.m., while Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani will meet him at 5 p.m.

At 6 p.m., he will meet Sonia Gandhi.

Delegation-level talks between the two countries will take place at Hyderabad House on the same day at 7.15 p.m.

He will return to Thimpu on Friday afternoon. (ANI)

New Delhi urges Islamabad to show sympathy to Sarabjeet Singh

New Delhi, June 25 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna has urged Islamabad to show sympathy to Indian prisoner Sarabjeet Singh after Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected his mercy plea and upheld the death sentence in his alleged involvement in the Lahore bomb attacks in 1990.

“We have consistently urged the government of Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view in this case. It is our hope that they will find it possible to do so,” Krishna told reporters here on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, a three-member bench led by Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed dismissed Sarabjit’s review petition on the grounds of non-pursuance of the case by his lawyer.

Sarabjit’s counsel had failed to appear in court for the past few hearings, including the last one on Monday.

Rana Abdul Hamid, the lawyer who was representing Sarabjit, had been unable to appear in court after he was appointed last year an additional advocate general by Punjab province.

Sarabjit Singh is a resident of Amritsar in Punjab. He was arrested near the Kasur border in Pakistan in August 1990. As per his family, he had actually strayed into Pakistan’s territory in an inebriated state.

He was awarded death sentence by a Lahore anti-terrorism court in October 1991 for allegedly carrying out serial bomb blasts in Pakistan.

Sarabjit challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, however, the apex court quashed his appeal in September 2005, saying that the review petition was not filed within the time period as mentioned in the law. (ANI)

India seeks Australia’s explanation over racial attacks on students

New Delhi, June 24 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna has said that India has sought an explanation from Australia over attacks on its students there.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, the Minister said, “We are in close touch with the High Commissioner and we are also in close touch with our High Commission there in Australia. We should do everything possible to bring about certain normalcy in some of the cities in Australia.”

“I hope the Australian government would look into this,” he added.

The attacks caused some diplomatic discomfort between the two countries and sparked angry protests in India. Australia’s government condemned the attacks and has launched an inquiry into them.

Indian students believe that the attacks were acts of racism and warned of “curry bashings” in Australia, where foreign students over 12 billion dollars contribute. (ANI)

All party meeting seeks stringent punishment for Vienna culprits

Chandigarh, May 26 (ANI): In a two hour-meeting attended by SAD-BJP, Congress, CPI, CPM, BSP, and Shiv Sena, parties urged the Centre to accelerate parleys with its Austrian counterpart to give rigorous punishment to those guilty in the incident which claimed the life of a Sikh preacher.

The meeting, convened by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal strongly condemned the incident in Vienna, which claimed the life of a Sikh preacher and a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect for Sant Rama Nand and those killed in protests.

In this meeting a unanimous resolution was passed seeking stringent punishment for those responsible behind the crime.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Badal informed that he would take up the issue with the Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Tuesday.

Badal also appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and communal harmony and compensation to those who were killed was announced.

“The government will compensate those whose private properties have been damaged in the backlash and next of the kin of three killed in violent protests,” he said. (ANI)