Click to play videoNew Delhi: The diplomatic logjam has been broken and the result has not been an eyewash but an explicit admission of guilt. After finally admitting that the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai were planned on its soil, Pakistan has asked India to provide it more information to assist its investigation.
This is a demand that can be met - at least in part - if the initial response of External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, is anything to go by. But India conceding to a Pakistani trial for Ajmal Kasab is unlikely.
Now the ball is back in India's court. Pakistan says it wants more information to build a case against Kasab and his accomplices. It has handed over to india a set of 30 questions it needs answered to help it with the probe.
Additionally, Pakistan wants Kasab's statement made to the Mumbai court to assist the FIA probe.
India welcomed the filing of the FIR and the arrests and within hours, the UPA top brass - Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony and the National Security Advisor met to discuss the Pakistani response as well as the agenda for Richard Holbrooke's upcoming visit.
India's response is a calibrated one. Striking a balance between welcoming a long-delayed admission and signalling that Pakistan needs to arrest and try the top functionaries of the Lashkar-e-Toiba - Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah - under its Anti Terror laws. These are men on whose status there is little clarity so far.
Sources also add that while some Pakistani demands appear reasonable, handing over Ajmal Kasab for trial in Pakistan isn't one of them.
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