India-Pak anti-terror talks conclude in Islamabad

New Delhi, Mar 7 (UNI) India has shared with Pakistan evidence about the involvement of Pak-based agencies in various terrorist incidents back home and said it would judge the cooperation and efficacy (of the anti-terrorism mechanism) by the results achieved.

The evidence was shared at the first meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism which concluded in Islamabad today.

Briefing reporters about the two-day meeting, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here that the two sides discussed the parameters of the Anti-Terrorism Mechanism and agreed that specific information would be exchanged through the Mechanism for helping investigations on either side related to terrorist incidents and preventing terrorism and violence in the two countries.

It was also agreed that the Anti-Terrorism Mechanism would meet on a quarterly basis.

However, any information required to be conveyed on a priority basis, would be immediately passed on through the respective heads of the Mechanism.

The spokesman refused to go into details or specifics of the nature of the evidence shared with the Pakistani side.

The Indian side at the talks was lead by Mr K C Singh, Additional Secretary (International Organisations) in the External Affairs Ministry while the Pakistani delegation was headed by his counterpart Tariq Usman Hyder.

The spokesman said the essential idea was to exchange information which leads to a mechanism that could end terrorism.

The idea is to ''tighten the net,'' he added.

''Evidence was shared....We will naturally judge the efficacy and cooperation by the results...We will see what happens. This is all about doing,'' he said but did not go into details of the evidence.

Asked to comment on news reports that India had presented to Pakistan evidence regarding the Samjhauta train explosions, the spokesman said he would not go into details based on media reports.

The Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism was conceived at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at a meeting on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Havana (Cuba) in September 2006. It was formally constituted in November last year when the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met here for talks.

Consequently, both countries formed a three-member panel of senior officials who would meet and discuss strategies to counter terrorism in either country.

UNI