Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said it would act on the issue of consular access to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks, after completing its own investigation into his admission that he was a Pakistani citizen.
"We are currently carrying out our own internal investigations to ascertain whether Ajmal Kasab is from Pakistan. We will deal with this issue after our investigations are complete," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said in Islamabad.
Kasab recently sent a letter to the Pakistan High Commissioner in India seeking legal aid. Officials had earlier said authorities were examining his letter.
Pakistan has also said it has not been provided evidence by India regarding the involvement of elements within this country in the Mumbai attacks.
Kasab's father admitted in an interview to the Dawn newspaper last month that the attacker whose pictures were flashed around the world by the media was his son.
Sadiq evaded a direct reply to a question on whether the US and Britain had shared any evidence regarding the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan, saying: "We await any concrete information or evidence relating to the Mumbai incident. We have offered to India a joint investigation."
"The Indian External Affairs Minister has said that they have not shared evidence with Pakistan and that they are still investigating," he said.
Pakistan, Sadiq said, is "currently engaged in the process of our own investigation" into the Mumbai attacks. It is also awaiting evidence from India "to enable our own investigations to make progress", he said.
To a question about claims that the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is the "biggest threat to global peace", Sadiq said "there is no terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Terrorism is a global issue. Terrorist elements are found in every society and religion."
"Pakistan, India and other countries of the region need to follow a cooperative, and not accusatory, approach to jointly deal with this menace. Pakistan, as a responsible state, is taking all requisite steps to counter terrorism."
Responding to another query about External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's comments that Pakistan is resorting to a policy of denial and deflecting responsibility for the attacks, Sadiq said "we do not want to indulge in blame game. Pakistan believes that the two countries need to demonstrate restraint and responsibility."
"For its part, Pakistan has sincerely offered our cooperation in investigating the Mumbai tragedy. We await a response to our concrete proposals regarding joint investigations and a high-level visit."
Asked about references to some elements in ISI being linked to acts of terrorism, the spokesman said Pakistan's government and state institutions are committed to the war against terror.
Efforts to vilify Pakistan or its state institutions are "unwarranted and unacceptable", he said. "In Pakistan's view, what is needed is more accurate alignment in the perception and interests of Afghanistan, Pakistan, US-NATO and countries in the region that have stakes in the struggle against terrorism."
This would help win the war against terror and dispel "mutual misgivings," he said.
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