No dossier on Balochistan handed to Indian PM: Pakistan

New Delhi, Sept 11 (PTI) Pakistan has stated for the
first time since the Singh-Gilani meeting in Egypt in July
that it has not handed over a dossier on Balochistan to the
Indian Prime Minister.

"No, we didn't. Actually, we flagged the issue on
Balochistan. We asked for a positive attitude and asked for
non-interference inside Balochistan," Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi said in an interview to Outlook magazine.

He was asked about claims in the Pakistani media that
such a dossier was handed over to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh during the meeting with his Pakistani Yousuf Raza Gilani
at Sharm-el Sheikh on the sidelines of the NAM Summit.

Balochistan's reference in the joint statement issued
after the meeting had evoked sharp reactions here. Pakistan
has been accusing India of fomenting trouble in Balochistan, a
charge it refutes.

BJP and several other political parties have slammed
the Prime Minister for agreeing to the mention of Balochistan,
saying government has yielded to Pakistan without thinking of
its implications.

Singh had later explained that India has nothing to
hide and did not see anything wrong with the reference in the
joint statement which made a mention of Pakistan having raised
the issue of Balochistan during the talks.

Qureshi also questioned the visit of Home Minister P
Chidambaram to the US which is seen by Pakistan as an attempt
to put pressure on it to take action against LeT found Hafiz
Saeed, the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks.

"India was always allergic to third-party mediation.
What the Indian Home Minister is saying today is in
contradiction to the stated Indian policies of the past,"
the Pakistan Foreign Minister said.

Qureshi said Pakistan had no problem in accepting such
mediation. "Now, if they (India) want to involve the US, we
would be only too happy. I repeat, Pakistan has no problmen
with third-party mediation where other contentious issues
between the two countries can also come up".

Pakistan has written a letter to Foreign Secretary
Nirupama Rao inviting her to Islamabad for a meeting before
the two Foreign Ministers hold talks in New York later this
month but there was no response from New Delhi, he said.

"If they don't meet, don't prepare a report for the
Foreign Ministers as was agreed upon by the two Prime
Ministers, then where do we go from here? he asked.

The two Foreign Secretaries will meet in New York
later this month to review progress on investigations into the
Mumbai attacks before their Foreign Ministers hold talks.

Qureshi said continued stalling of the composite
dialogue "will harm India more than Pakistan".

The minister was dismissive of the dossiers provided
by India on the involvement of Hafiz Saeed and other accused
in the Mumbai attacks. "Our legal team has gone over the
evidence that India has sent with a fine toothcomb. Believe
me, it can't hold up in a court of law".

On the controversy in India over Jinnah's book by
Jaswant Singh, he said such reaction was "quite shocking".
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