India summoned Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner Mansoor Ahmed Khan to the external affairs ministry on Friday to register its strong protest against the frequent adjournments of the trial of the 26/11 terror accused in Pakistani courts.
In a two-pronged approach by New Delhi, India’s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad Gopal Baglay also went to the Pakistan foreign office to lodge a similar protest.The hearing on Wednesday was adjounred for a month as the judge in whose court the hearing is going on has gone on vacation for over a month.
The summons to the Pakistani diplomat comes just two days after the two nations agreed that their foreign secretaries would meet in Islamabad on August 25. According to the Pakistan foreign ministry, the deputy high commissioner asked about the progress in the Mumbai trial. The MEA’s director-general (South Asia and Saarc) told him the trial “was taking its legal course and efforts were being made for its early conclusion”.
In the game of one-upmanship between the two nations, the Pak diplomat also used the opportunity to raise with India the Samjahauta Express investigation issue. He said: “It is necessary the outcome of these investigations be shared with Pakistan at the earliest.”