India, Pak exchange information on terror incidents

New Delhi, Oct 24 (UNI) India and Pakistan today exchanged information on the July 7 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul and several other terrorist incidents that occurred in the recent past.

At a special meeting of the Joint India-Pakistan Anti-Terror Mechanism here, officials of the two countries held discussions on the various issues of mutual concern, including terrorism.

''Information on issues of mutual concern, including the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, was exchanged,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here.

The Indian delegation was led by Vivek Katju, Special Secretary, (International Organisations) in the External Affairs Ministry, while the Pakistani side was headed by Aizaz Ahmad Choudhary, Additional Secretary (South Asia) in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry.

''The Meeting was held in a positive, constructive and forward-looking atmosphere,'' the spokesman added.

The discussions followed a decision taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari at their meeting in New York on September 24 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

A joint statement issued after the New York meeting said a special meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism (JATM) would be held in October 2008 to address mutual concerns, including the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

The two countries have so far held three meetings of the JATM.

The JATM was conceived by Dr Singh and the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Cuba to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and to assist each other by exchanging information about any terror incidents.

National Security Advisors of the two countries also met here on October 14 and held discussions on the worsening security situation in the region, trying to devise ways to combat terrorism.

Pakistan's National Security Advisor (NSA) Mahmud Ali Durrani met his Indian counterpart M K Narayanan and held talks on the crucial issue.

India raised the issues of ceasefire violations on he Line of Control (LoC) and the bombing of its Embassy in Kabul.

Mr Durrani, who also called on the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, categorically denied his country's involvement in the Kabul Embassy bombing.

India has been asking Pakistan to fulfil its January 2004 promise of not allowing territories under its control for anti-India activities to facilitate forward movement in bilateral ties UNI RB SBC SB KP1725