Pakistan daily Dawn on Tuesday published the 30 questions Islamabad has asked India. The queries (see box) are mostly routine. The replies will be contained in the charge-sheet Mumbai police will file against Mohammad Ajmal Amin Kasab by Friday.

Apart from the 30 questions, there is annexure B, which many in India would regard as "mischievous" and a desire by Pakistan to obfuscate the issue. One of the queries relates to the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was gunned down near Mumbai's Cama hospital with two other senior officers, Salaskar and Kamte. Pakistan had earlier hinted that Karkare was killed because he tried to investigate involvement of Hindu hardliners in the terror attack on Samjhauta Express, where many Pakistanis returning from India were killed. He had also pointed fingers at Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving member of the Indian army and implicated by the ATS. Pakistan wants the eye-witness account of Jugdev, the constable who saw the gunmen who killed the three officers. 

Many believe that at the moment the focus should not get diverted to Karkare's killing, which investigators say is part of 26/11 plot. Karkare was not killed by Hindu fundamentalists but by terrorists from Karachi. "This is so typical of Pakistan. Instead of concentrating on the Mumbai carnage they wish to diffuse the focus," an official who did not wish to be identified said.

But analysts like C Uday Bhaskar feel, "Frankly this is a statement of fact, Karkare was investigating the Samjhauta attack and questioning certain people. I believe it is important not to get emotional but be as transparent as possible. At the end of the day we need to get certain answers from Pakistan and it is best to give as much as we reasonably can without getting agitated." After all, he said, it is in India's interest to get to the bottom of this attack.

Pakistan also wanted information on links between diamond merchants operating from Surat and Hindus in diamond trade in Pakistan. 

Seema Guha/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication