India will act decisively if another attack happens: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI - India will act “swiftly and decisively” if another terrorist attack emanates from Pakistani soil, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Friday, urging Pakistan to reinvent itself as a genuine democracy and a responsible neighbour.

“If we are able to establish with a reasonable degree of certainty that another attack on India emanated from Pakistani soil, we will respond swiftly and decisively,” the home minister said while addressing the India Today conclave titled “South Asia: Securing the Future.

It suffices to say our response will be swift and decisive, he added, in response to a a query if this also meant military action.

Pointing to Pakistan’s duplicity over Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafeez Saeed, Chidambaram said, Investigations around the world are carried out in a certain way. If Pakistan does not know how to interrogate Saeed, then they should allow my agents to go in there and do the job. I am willing to get this done.

The minister summarised how the dossiers presented to Pakistan contained information of Hafeez Saeed’s specific location on certain dates, the terror camps he visited and his interaction with those suspected of launching the terror attacks in Mumbai.

If Pakistan wants to bury its head ostrich-like, then what can we say. I’d like to believe that Pakistan has stepped back from sponsoring non-state actors, but there is no proof of that yet, Chidambaram said.

Pakistan could make a start towards convincing India of its sincerity by providing voice samples of those suspected of guiding the 26/11 terrorists from Pakistan, said Chidambaram.

But in the same breath he indicated that Pakistan had simply refused to act even though India had sent in a list of suspects.

The voice samples can be tested in India or in a neutral country - maybe in Quantico, USA - and that would go a certain distance in helping establish what we believe - that state actors are indeed involved, but Pakistan refuses to provide us with these samples, he said.

Arguing that Pakistan had proved to be a difficult neighbour ever since partition and independence in 1947, Chidambaram said India’s main hope was for a political transformation in Islamabad.

It must reinvent itself…to become a truly democratic country where real power lies in democratically elected leaders’ hands, he said.

“The two nations are nuclear powers, and war is not an option, so we must talk,” the home minister said. “At other times, we must remain vigilant.”

“We tried to make a beginning with the foreign secretary talks, but nothing came out of it, I’m afraid,” Chidambaram said. “But I am told we are still open to another round of talks between the foreign secretaries.”

India and Pakistan held official talks in February for the first time since the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008.

Describing the Feb 13 Pune terror attack as a blot on India’s preparedness, Chidamabaram said, If the German Bakery had taken measures and followed advisories, Pune could have been avoided. The manager of German Bakery Praveen Pant had even signed on the advisory.

“Small, low-cost measures could have been taken, but they were not. Simple things like the direction the CCTV camera was pointed out, or employing a person to check customer’s bags. Any number of things could have been done.