New Delhi, September 5
In what may come as a big surprise, Pakistan’s former National Security Adviser (NSA) Mahmud Ali Durrani today rejected New Delhi’s contention that banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JUD) Hafiz Saeed had plotted the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

“There is zero proof of Hafiz Saeed’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks,” he told reporters after delivering the first RK Mishra Memorial Lecture, organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Durrani, a strong supporter of the India-Pakistan peace process, was sacked as NSA in January for admitting that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attack, was a Pakistani national when the government in Islamabad was still in the denial mode.

Durrani, a former Pakistan army general who had also worked for the ISI, is a well-known veteran of Track II diplomacy.

On Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement earlier in the day accusing Pakistan of deliberately stifling the probe into the Mumbai attacks, Durrani said he disagreed with the leader. “I feel the Pakistan Government is doing its very best to move forward with the probe…they have arrested a lot of people.”

On whether he agreed with Pakistan’s allegation that India was involved in the unrest in Balochistan, Durrani quipped, “I think some evidence has been given.”

Terrorism, he observed, posed a bigger threat to Pakistan than to India. “We are fighting terrorism for our own good…you (India) are only partially affected by it, we are fully affected by it,” he noted.

Earlier, his address on “India-Pakistan: Bridging the Gap” was heard with rapt attention by politicians, former diplomats, strategic experts and journalists. Among those present at the function were Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, former NSA Brajesh Mishra, former Foreign Secretaries Shiv Shankar Menon and Salman Haider and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik.

Durrani called for a “frank dialogue” between spymasters and security services to jointly combat terrorism and bridge mistrust, while outlining a vision of a bilateral relationship based on continuous dialogue, resolving issues like Siachen and Sir Creek and greater interaction between the media, academia and the business community of the two countries.