Islamabad, February 5
On the eve of Foreign Secretary-level talks in Thimphu, Pakistan today came out with a provocative statement saying that India's handling of the Samjhauta Express bombing case showed that it lacked "courage to unearth culpability of Hindu extremists".

"India seems to be lacking the courage to unearth culpability of Hindu extremists and their links with some Indian Army personnel," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement that appears designed to upset New Delhi.

The unusually blunt statement held that India's handling of the 2007 Samjhauta Express case "doesn't inspire much hope".

The spokesman emphasised that India "needs to bridge the gap between what it says and what it does".

The Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in the Bhutanese capital on Sunday to make a fresh attempt to restart the bilateral dialogue process stalled since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The Indian side is expected to seek an update from Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks investigations and trial. This will be the first meeting between the Foreign Secretaries after the failed talks between the Foreign Ministers in July last year in Pakistan.

Pakistan has been calling for action against those responsible for bombing the cross-border train ever since RSS leader Swami Aseemanand recently confessed to a special court in India about the involvement of Sangh activists in several terror attacks, including the assault on the Samjhauta train that runs between the two countries.

The National Investigative Agency have since then arrested several ‘Hindu militants’ in connection with terror attacks. The Home Minister P. Chidambaram had declared that India would share with Pakistan all details once the investigation is completed.

But Basit said in his statement today that it was "unfortunate that India has still not been able to complete its investigations into the Samjhauta blasts". — PTI