Finally Pakistan Owns Kasab…What Next?
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Finally Pakistan owns Kasab…What next?

After weeks of cussed denials, Pakistan finally came around to acknowledging that Ajmal Kasab, the captured Mumbai terrorist, could be Pakistani. The confirmation, by information minister Sherry Rehman to a news agency, is a small but significant step. She said, "We are confirming he is a Pakistani, but investigations are still going on."

While the government here said there was no official confirmation of
Pakistan acknowledging Kasab's identity, if Pakistan does so, it could break the logjam of charges and counter-charges between the two countries.

Pakistan's hesitant acknowledgement comes as US official Richard Boucher arrives in Delhi on Thursday for talks with foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and, unusually, to meet foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee. He is expected to brief the Indian government on his talks in Islamabad.

India could contemplate the next step of pushing Pakistan to investigate the training, planning and execution of the attacks, which would potentially open a can of worms in Pakistan.

But
Pakistan could have the last word, by seeking access to Kasab and embarking on its own investigation. This could take ages and India would be asked to hold its horses by the international community while Pakistan went through the motions.

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