Pakistan, which is yet to admit that Ajmal Amir Kasab is its national, said it will respond by Wednesday to a letter written by the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks in which he has sought legal assistance from it.
In the letter, a copy of which was sent to Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik on Monday by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, Iman alias Ajmal Kasab had detailed the circumstances of his arrest and sought legal assistance from the Pakistan government.
"I have given the letter to experts to examine and there will be a detailed response from the Foreign Ministry by today or tomorrow," Malik told reporters after a meeting with the visiting Interpol chief Ronald K Noble.
He claimed that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the banned terrorist group blamed for the Mumbai attacks, did not "exist now" and the government would decide on proscribing its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa if investigations proved it was involved in terrorist activities.
Malik insisted that India had shared "no official or unofficial evidence" on the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan.
An examination of the National Database and Registration Authority, Pakistan's national database, had provided no records on any national named Ajmal Kasab, he claimed.
"India has experienced the same sort of terrorism as Pakistan and the same people are carrying out suicide bombings here. Both countries are victims of terrorism," Malik said. "That is why we have asked for forming a joint investigation team. Let's work together and probe jointly so the perpetrators can be brought to justice and so that such incidents don't occur in future," Malik said.
Pakistan government had cracked down on Jamaat-ud-Dawa in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution which designated it as a terrorist group and its leaders had been detained and its offices closed, Malik said.
"Pakistan is a sovereign state. Whatever action we take, we will take in the interest of the country (and) we will not get dictation from anywhere," he said.
