India denies receiving dossier from Pak, Islamabad evasive

New Delhi/Islamabad, July 23 (PTI) India on Thursday
flatly denied having received any dossier from Pakistan about
its alleged involvement in terrorist acts there slamming
Pakistani media reports in this regard as "entirely wrong"
even as Islamabad remained evasive on the matter.

"No such dossier was given in Egypt...It is entirely
wrong," India's Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet
Kaur said in New Delhi.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told PTI
"We have not received any such dossier," a day after media
reports in Pakistan claimed that a dossier was given to India
on its alleged involvement in terrorist acts including one on
the Sri Lankan team in Lahore as well as in the unrest in the
south-western province of Balochistan.

The dossier with proof of "India's involvement in
subversive activities in Pakistan" was handed over by Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to his Indian counterpart Manmohan
Singh during their recent meeting at the Egyptian resort of
Sharm el-Sheikh, The Dawn, a leading Pakistani English daily,
Wednesday reported quoting sources.

India's Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi
Tharoor described the charges as "preposterous" and said "it
is not wise for us to react to media reports.

"But we don't believe that deflecting responsibilities
for things that are happening in the disfunctioning of the
state to their neighbours who have conducted themselves very
differently is a very healthy practice," he said.

In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit did
not confirm or deny the media reports saying the issue
involved intelligence matters which cannot be discussed in
public.

Basit evaded several pointed questions on the matter
saying only that Pakistan's position was amply reflected by
the Joint Statement.

"All I can say is that whatever was discussed and handed
over is contained in the Joint Statement," Basit told a weekly
news briefing, responding to a question on whether Gilani had
handed over to Singh a dossier on India's alleged involvement
in unrest in Balochistan
The issue involved intelligence matters and Pakistan does
not discuss such issues in public as a matter of policy, he
said.

Asked about the issue, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Phuket where he is attending
a Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting that
if there are any unwanted problems being created in
Balochistan Pakistan has "tabled" them in the spirit of
solving them.

"It is important for us to make Balochistan stable. It is
an important area for us. Pakistan is concerned about
Balochistan. We only want to solve issues, not complicate
them," Qureshi added. PTI TEAM
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