New Delhi: Perhaps for the first time, the ISI chief has been brought into the Indo- Pak dialogue process. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the stunning disclosure on his way back from Italy, but did not elaborate on how and with whom the ISI chief spoke.
"After my meeting with President Zardari, our high commissioners met. There were also talks with ISI chief and Pakistani foreign office. They have provided information about the action they are taking against the masterminds of Mumbai attacks," he said.
There are signs that the ground is being prepared to restart the dialgue process, although perhaps in a changed form, as the Prime Minister gets ready to meet his Pakistani counterpart in Egypt next week.
Sign one: Dr Singh said he didn't mean to hurt President Zardari's feelings last month in Russia when he snubbed him on the issue of terror in front of TV cameras.
"Well there are difficulties in our relationship but I have not given up hope and let me say that what I have said to Zardari I not intended to say that in the presence of media. I simply forgot that media was present there , It was not my intention to hurt Zardari's feeling," he said.
Sign two: Pakistan's interior minister announced that the trial of the 5 men arrested for the Mumbai attacks may start next week. Islamabad will also hand over another dossier to India with some more questions, though they blamed Delhi for delays.
Said Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik: "I am reiterating that delay was not from our side."
The two foreign secretaries will now meet in Egypt next week to take stock of the investigations before the big meeting between Singh and Gilani at the same venue -- the NAM summit.