Rapists deserve death sentence: Salman

NEW DELHI: Condemning the gang rape of a 23-year-old girl in the capital, Bollywood star Salman Khan Tuesday said rapists should be hanged.

"In my view, there should be a death sentence for all rapists. Such things have no role in our life. I feel disgusted after hearing such things. For me, this is a third grade crime. I also believe that there should be a norm that if a rapist goes to jail, he should be beaten till death," said the 46-year-old.

The brutal rape and torture took place Sunday night when the woman along with her male friend boarded a private bus at Munirka to go to Dwarka after watching a movie.

The woman was beaten up, stripped and raped by at least seven men who were inside the bus. Both the woman and her male friend, who was also beaten up when he resisted, were thrown off the bus near Mahipalpur.

Salman feels people should have zero tolerance for such crime and that they should try to stop it if they come across any such incident.

"I think Indian society needs to be 'dabang' (bold) in their approach. I recently read a news where a girl was being molested and people standing nearby were making videos on their phones. This is not the real India and I don't think if such incidents can ever happen in front of my eyes," he added.

The actor was in the capital Tuesday to promote his upcoming film "Dabangg 2", a sequel to 2010 hit "Dabangg".

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Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence

NEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.

Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.

"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.

High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.

Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.

"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.

"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.

Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.

Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.

She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.

"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."

After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.

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AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

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Online:

Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5

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Assault Weapons Ban: What Was It and Did It Work?

Editor's Note: This post is part of a larger series by ABC News examining the complex legal, political and social issues in the gun control debate. The series is part of ABC's special coverage of the search for solutions in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

When the 113th Congress is sworn in in January, expect the debate over gun control to have renewed urgency. Several prominent lawmakers have already come forth to call for a re-examination and re-working of our nation's gun laws in the wake of Friday's mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

While new legislation likely won't be introduced until after Jan. 3, statements from top Senators such as Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) suggest that new proposals could be similar to the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that was in in place from 1994 to 2004.

"I can tell you that he is going to have a bill to lead on because as a first-day bill I'm going to introduce in the Senate and the same bill will be introduced in the House -- a bill to ban assault weapons," Feinstein said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Click Here for More: Connecticut School Shooting

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"High-capacity magazines -- devices that dramatically boost a weapon's firing power -- were prohibited from 1994 until 2004, when the federal assault weapons ban was in place... It's time to end the bloodshed and restore common sense to our gun laws -- beginning with a permanent ban on high-capacity gun magazines," Lautenberg wrote in an op-ed on the Huffington Post that he penned with Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed in the Long Island Railroad shooting of 1993.

What Did the Assault Weapons Ban Do?

Passed by Congress on Sept. 13, 1994, and signed by Bill Clinton later that day, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the manufacturing of 18 specific models of semiautomatic weapons, along with the manufacturing of high-capacity ammunition magazines that could carry more than 10 rounds. The ban had a provision that allowed it to expire in September 2004.

Several attempts were made in Congress to re-up the ban, the most recent in June 2008, according to the Library of Congress, but none of them have been successful. Republicans generally opposed it; high-profile Democrats typically shied away from the issue.

In the second presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, President Obama said he was interested in re-instituting the ban.

"Weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. And so what I'm trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally," the president said. "Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced."

Could a Ban Have Prevented the Connecticut Shootings?

It's impossible to say for sure, but it seems unlikely that if the law were still in place, as it was written, it could have done much to prevent Friday's tragedy. Lanza's primary weapon, the Bushmaster .223 rifle, is a type of AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, certain models of which were prohibited from being sold under the ban, but the Bushmaster model used by Lanza was not on that list.

Additionally, the language in the law was loose enough that a gun enthusiast who was interested in adding a type of AR-15 to their collection could have purchased one legally.

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Egypt prosecutor's resignation angers Brotherhood

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor resigned under pressure from his opponents in the judiciary, dealing a blow to President Mohamed Mursi and drawing an angry response on Tuesday from the Islamist leader's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Seeking to keep pressure on Mursi, the main opposition coalition will hold new protests against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but which looks set to be approved in the second round of a referendum on Saturday.

Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in a first round of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.

The opposition, which says the law is too Islamist, will be emboldened by the result but is unlikely to win the second round, to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Protesters broke out into cheers when the public prosecutor appointed by Mursi last month announced his resignation late on Monday.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Mursi to power in elections in June, said the enforced resignation of public prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim was a "crime".

The Supreme Judiciary Council, which governs the country's judicial system, should refuse to accept the prosecutor's resignation, the Brotherhood said.

Further signs of opposition to Mursi emerged when a judges' club urged its members not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding and balloting is expected to go ahead.

If the constitution passes next weekend, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said there were widespread voting violations in the first round and called for protests across Egypt on Tuesday to "bring down the invalid draft constitution".

The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing a group of judges to investigate complaints of voting irregularities around the country.

DEMONSTRATIONS

In Cairo, the Front planned to hold demonstrations at Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Mubarak, and outside Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.

"Down with the constitution of the Brotherhood," the Front said in a statement. "Down with the constitution of tyranny."

A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."

The build-up to the first round of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.

On Monday evening, more than 1,300 members of the General Prosecution staff gathered outside the public prosecutor's office, demanding Ibrahim leave his post.

Hours later, Ibrahim announced he had resigned and the crowd cheered, "God is Great! Long live justice!" and "Long live the independence of the judiciary!" witnesses said.

The closeness of the first-round referendum vote and low turnout give Mursi scant comfort as he seeks to assemble support for difficult economic reforms.

OPPOSITION BOOST

"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the National Salvation Front and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

Mursi is likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, polarizing society further, Sayyid told Reuters.

To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to impose tax rises and cut back fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already forced the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the document is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.

The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.

(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Squash: David hurtles into world squash quarter-finals

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands: Titleholder Nicol David showed how much she likes the music and warmth of the bay-side venue at Grand Cayman on Monday with an in-tune performance which carried her to the quarter-finals of the World Open in less than half an hour.

The six-time champion from Malaysia looked as strong a favourite as ever as she won 9-3, 9-2, 9-3 against Annie Au, the Hong Kong player who has become a regular in the world's top ten, but was allowed no chance to show how.

David struck the ball rhythmically and well, gave little away, and kept pressure on so relentlessly that it was easy to forget that the tournament had undergone a major shift of playing conditions.

"They made the ball bouncy, but at the same time this is a glass court so if you play your shots, it goes in," said David referring to the more favourable chances of putting the ball away compared with the first round which had been played on conventionally walled indoor courts.

David, occasionally a tense starter, seemed to be relaxed by the idyllic courtside view and sociable evening ambience and comfortably swept aside one of the tour's most improved and promising younger players.

"It's such a good vibe and everyone is in such a lively mood that I feed off the energy of it," she said happily. It was easy to see why, in three previous tournaments here, David has never been beaten.

She now has a rest day before taking on Madeline Perry, the tenth-seeded Irish woman who beat David back in 2009 en route to the final of the British Open in Manchester.

The oldest player in the top ten, Perry won 11-2, 11-9, 11-9 against the youngest, Nour El Sherbini, the 17-year-old Egyptian who still combines school with professional squash.

By contrast, Perry has been on tour for much of a decade and a half, though it was hard to tell that she was fully 18 years senior during this effective performance.

However, her opponent was not quite the same Egyptian who contested this year's British Open final against David.

Instead, El Sherbini became frustrated by her slow start, and not until the third game, when she had her nose ahead for a while, that the teenager looked like the player touted as David's successor.

Earlier, two English players, Alison Waters, the fourth seed, and Jenny Duncalf, last year's runner-up, also reached the last eight, where they will play each other.

Waters saved a game point in the second game to beat Samantha Teran, the 15th-seeded Mexican, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5, while Duncalf saved a crucial game point in the first game of her 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8 win over Camille Serme, the 14th seeded French woman.

That swung the match almost irrevocably, for Duncalf went on to take 11 out of 12 points, and by the time Serme had recovered it was well into the fourth game and too late to pull the deficit all the way back.

- AFP/fa

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Exit polls: Narendra Modi to sweep Gujarat, Congress ahead in Himachal

NEW DELHI: Exit and opinion polls on television channels at the end of voting in Gujarat on Sunday projected BJP to perform a hat-trick in the state while Congress is predicted to have an edge in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh.

Exit poll carried out by C-Voter for Times Now predicted 119 to 129 seats for BJP while Congress is projected to win between 49 and 59 seats out of the total 182 seats.

News 24 showed that BJP is likely to get 140 against 117 seats it had won in 2007 assembly polls as the party is expected to get 46 per cent of the total vote share. The poll carried out by Chanakya for the channel projected Congress to get 40 seats, 19 short of 59 it won in 2007 polls.

Headlines Today projected BJP to get between 118 and 128 seats while Congress is likely to win in 50 to 56 seats with 37 per cent vote share.

The ABP News predicted BJP to win in 116 seats and Congress in 60 constituencies.

C-Voter predicted a vote share of 46 per cent for BJP against 37 per cent for Congress while Chanakya said BJP is likely to get 50 per cent vote share against 35 per cent of Congress.

In Himachal Pradesh, C-Voter predicted 30 to 38 seats for Congress while BJP is likely to get 27 to 35 seats in the 68-member assembly.

Chanakya predicted Congress to win in 40 seats while they said BJP is likely to win in 23 seats. Others may win in five seats.

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Newtown Couple Vow to Live for Dead Daughter

The parents of Jessica Rekos, a 6-year-old girl who died during the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., said they are committed to keeping their daughter's memory alive despite their pain.

"We will talk about her every day, we will live for her," Krista Rekos told ABC News. "We will make sure her brother knows what an amazing person she was."

Richard and Krista Rekos say that talking about Jessica, who loved horseback riding and whom they called the CEO of their family, brings tiny moments of comfort.

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the massacre at the elementary school.

"Jessica loved writing, and she would often leave us little notes all over the house," Rekos said. "They would just say, 'I love you so much.'

"She was a ball of fire, she ruled the roost," Krista Rekos said.

When the call came Friday morning that Sandy Hook Elementary was on lockdown, Krista Rekos rushed in disbelief through the town where she and her husband were raised, a place they had always felt safe.

"I was running, and I kept thinking, 'I'm coming for you honey, I'm coming,'" she said, choking up.

CLICK HERE to read about the "hero teacher," the principal and 20 children who lost their lives.

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Richard Rekos said they initially had little information on what had happened.

"We had no idea at that point," he said. "We thought, OK, the reports are that one or two people may have been injured and taken to hospitals. There was still hope, that the children were hiding, there was still so much hope at that point."

The couple said that they walked around the firehouse, thinking that maybe Jessica had been taken there.

"I knew exactly what she was wearing, and I was hoping to see her little ponytail run around the corner, and her jacket and her black glittery Uggs that she had on that morning," Krista Rekos said.

Finally, around 1:15 p.m., everyone was asked to sit down, and a police officer said 20 children had been killed.

"We couldn't get a straight answer," Richard Rekos said. "There's so much panic and confusion when that announcement was made, the life was just sucked out of the room. And you know, I just point-blank found a state trooper and said, 'Are you telling me that standing here as a parent that my daughter is gone?' And he said, 'Yes.'"

The Rekoses were asked to stay at the firehouse to identify their daughter's body but, overcome with grief, they left in disbelief. The couple went home, and got into their daughter's bed, staying there until about 1 a.m., they said.

At that point there was a knock on the door and a police officer said that Jessica was dead.

"It just confirmed the nightmare, it's not real," Krista Rekos said. "It's still not real that my little girl who's so full of life and wants a horse so badly, and who was going to get cowboy boots for Christmas, isn't coming home."

The couple said the pain is just settling in. But equally strong is their commitment to keeping their daughter's memory alive.

The parents said that their 6-year old family powerhouse, with an enormous heart, will forever be their angel who left behind love notes that are still being found.

"This morning I found a little journal, and it was exactly what I needed, because it says, 'I love you so much momma, love Jessica,'" her mother said.

"It was like she was telling me she was watching us and she knows how hard this must be for us, and she wants us to know she loved us, and she knows how much she was loved."

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Syrian vice president says neither side can win war

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said that neither the forces of President Bashar al-Assad nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war which is now being fought on the outskirts of Assad's powerbase in Damascus.

Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power structure dominated by Assad's Alawite minority, has rarely been seen since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011 and is not part of the president's inner circle directing the fight against Sunni rebels.

But he is the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad will not win. He was speaking to the pro-Assad al-Akhbar paper in an interview from Damascus which is now hemmed in by rebel fighters to the south.

Assad's forces have used jets and artillery to try to dislodge the fighters from around Damascus but the violence has crept into the heart of the capital and rebels announced on Sunday a new offensive in the central province of Hama.

Sharaa said the situation in Syria, where more than 40,000 people have been killed, was deteriorating and a "historic settlement" was needed to end the conflict, involving regional powers and the U.N. Security Council and the formation of a national unity government "with broad powers".

"With every passing day the political and military solutions are becoming more distant. We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime," Sharaa was quoted as saying.

"The opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement," he told the paper, adding that the insurgents fighting to topple Syria's leadership could plunge it into "anarchy and an unending spiral of violence".

Sources close to the Syrian government say Sharaa had pushed for dialogue with the opposition and objected to the military response to an uprising that began peacefully.

In Damascus, residents said on Monday the army had told people to evacuate the Palestinian district of Yarmouk, suggesting an all-out military offensive on the southern district was imminent.

The centre of the city, largely insulated from the violence for 21 months, is now full of army and vigilante checkpoints and shakes to the sound of regular shelling, residents say.

Queues for bread form at bakeries hours before dawn, as people seek out dwindling supplies, power cuts are increasing and fears are growing that Damascus could descend into chaos.

In a veiled criticism of the crackdown, Sharaa said there was a difference between the state's duty to provide security to its citizens, and "pursuing a security solution to the crisis."

He said even Assad could not be certain where events in Syria were leading, but that anyone who met him would hear that "this is a long struggle...and he does not hide his desire to settle matters militarily to reach a final solution."

CHANGE INEVITABLE

"We realize today that change is inevitable," Sharaa said, but "none of the peaceful or armed opposition groups with their known foreign links can call themselves the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people".

"Likewise the current leadership...cannot achieve change alone after two years of crisis without new partners who contribute to preserving (Syria's) national fabric, territorial unity and regional sovereignty".

Rebels have now brought the war to the capital, without yet delivering a fatal blow to the government. But nor has Assad found the military muscle to oust his opponents from the city.

In Paris, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius of France, one of the powers most insistent that Assad has lost his legitimacy, said: "I think the end is nearing for Bashar al-Assad."

On the ground, rebels said they were launching an operation to seize the central province of Hama to try to link northern rural areas of Syria under their control to the center.

Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established rebel military command, said fighters had been ordered to surround and attack checkpoints across the province. He said forces loyal to Assad had been given 48 hours to surrender or be killed.

"When we liberate the countryside of Hama province ... then we will have the area between Aleppo and Hama liberated and open for us," he told Reuters.

The city of Hama in the province of the same name has a special resonance for anti-Assad activists. In 1982 Hafez al-Assad, father of the current ruler, crushed an uprising in the city, killing up to 30,000 civilians.

In Damascus, activists said fighter jets bombed the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday, killing at least 25 people sheltering in a mosque.

The attack was part of a month-old campaign by Assad's forces to eject rebels from positions they are establishing around the capital's perimeter. Yarmouk, to the south, falls within an arc of territory running from the east of Damascus to the southwest from where rebels hope to storm the government's main redoubt.

MOSQUE HIT

Opposition activists said the deaths in Yarmouk, to which refugees have fled from fighting in nearby suburbs, resulted from a rocket fired from a warplane hitting the mosque.

Footage showed bodies and body parts scattered on the stairs of what appeared to be the mosque.

The latest battlefield accounts could not be independently verified due to tight restrictions on media access to Syria.

Syria is home to more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, and both Assad's government and the rebels have enlisted and armed Palestinians as the uprising, which began as a peaceful street movement 21 months ago, has mushroomed into a civil war.

After Sunday's air raid, clashes flared between Palestinians from the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) and rebels including other Palestinian fighters and some PFLP-GC fighters were killed.

In the latest of a string of military installations to fall to the rebels, the army's infantry college north of Aleppo was captured on Saturday after five days of fighting, a rebel commander with the powerful Islamist Tawheed Brigade said.

(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Samia Nakhoul and Anna Willard)

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Government can help in training of foreign workers: SNEF

SINGAPORE: The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) says the government can help in defraying the cost of training foreign workers.

In an interview with MediaCorp, SNEF president Stephen Lee said the federation is in discussions with various agencies to see how this can be done.

Mr Lee pointed out that the productivity of foreign workers must be raised in order for Singapore to achieve its long term productivity target of 2 to 3 per cent.

To recruit better skilled workers, the federation says a few industries are working with the authorities to implement a stricter pre-selection process where workers are tested for their skills before they arrive in Singapore.

Construction workers like Umesh Sundaram survives on less than S$300 a month. He earns about S$1,100 a month and sends most of it to his family in India.

The 25-year-old hopes he can earn more as his skills improves.

"I'd like to go for training to be more productive, so it can increase my salary," said Umesh.

The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) tells MediaCorp that only a small number of foreign workers are sent for training by their companies.

Mr Lee said foreign workers, who represent one third of the workforce, cannot be neglected.

"We must have some programmes to train foreign workers. Those who are already here, (we can) re-train them, to upgrade their skills...the more sensitive question is: who will take up the tab for this training?" he said.

"We are in discussions with various agencies to see how they can do that without putting undue burden on the government's training expenses," he added.

The government currently does not provide direct training subsidies for foreign workers.

Labour chief Lim Swee Say pointed out that employers are ultimately responsible for improving the productivity of migrant workers.

"The ownership of upgrading every worker cannot be with the government, or the tripartite partners, it has to be with the management," he said.

Observers noted that some companies hire foreign workers on short-term contracts, which reduce the incentive to send them for training.

However they pointed out that there were many reasons to train workers who stay with the company longer; HR experts believe foreign workers will be able to earn more when their productivity increases and can take on greater responsibilities.

"Cost is always a major consideration for any business and if the company has to come out with additional cost to train these foreign workers and with very minimal productivity gains, then it won't be (much of an incentive)," said Ronald Lee, managing director of PrimeStaff Management Services.

"However, if the government does come by and also support and provide finances to supplement this training, then it will be easier to incentivise the employers to provide more training," he said.

- CNA/jc

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We have to forget that India and Pakistan are enemies. We are not forgetting 26/11: Rehman Malik

Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik, who flown back on Sunday, thinks both the countries have moved much beyond merely sharing 'dossiers' on fugitives and key 26\11 accused. He says a lot of investigation has been done at Islamabad's end which could soon see conviction of the conspirators. During his short visit of less than 48 hours, he had not only ruffled many feathers by touching usual 'irritants' but also extended his wish-lists which he considers important for carrying forward friendly relationship. He wants India to do away with 'police reporting' clause in visa system. In an interview to TOI, he expressed his desire for a kind of relationship where citizens from both sides can even travel across the border (Wagah\Attari) in their private cars having smart cards and GPRS system to certain restricted areas.

Excerpts:

Q. Both the countries had signed the new visa agreement over three months ago. India was ready to implement it in October. What is the reason for this delay in implementing it from Pakistan's side? How will the liberalized visa system be beneficial?

A. Even we were eager to implement it quickly. I had to come (for the launch of the agreement) but I could not come earlier. Secondly, if you are going to implement certain agreement, you have to set up a mechanism for this. I wanted to approve registered travel agents under ITTA (International Travel and Tourist Agency) guidelines as I did not want to face the charge of favouring certain operators. All these took time. The new visa regime will increase people-to-people contact which is a prerequisite to remove misunderstandings.

Q. What other steps you think are important to facilitate more people-to-people contract and travel to each other's country?

A. As a next step, I have even suggested during meetings that we should even do away with the system of 'police reporting' clause in visa. I don't think it is important to carry on with such a system in this electronic age where tracking of each-other nationals through computerized immigration checking system has become much easier. There is a suggestion from my side that we should reach a point where citizens from both sides can even travel across the border (Wagah\Attari) in their private cars having smart (security) cards and GPRS system to certain restricted areas.

Q. Your remark that both the countries should forget the past and move on to bring an era of peace and friendship for future generations is appreciated but at the same time it also raises a question whether Pakistan only wants to forget 26\11 and Kargil. Why can't it move further back in the past and forget Kashmir and UN resolution on it?

A. We have to forget that India and Pakistan are enemies. We are converging on Kashmir. It is a part of composite dialogue between the two countries. We are not forgetting 26/11. I never said forget the incidents. I said forget feeling of animosity. Let's create an era of brightness. I have found great hope between people of both the countries. Incidents are happening because we were not every close.

Q. There doesn't appear to be any progress on the ground despite promises made by Pakistan on anti-terror measures. How can you expect progress in other fields?

A. How many things have happened after Bombay blasts (Mumbai terror attack)? Whenever India has said it suspected some area we have searched and even shared information. Intelligence to intelligence, ministry to ministry, government to government...everybody is interacting. With interaction comes friendship. All incidents that are happening can be averted with friendship. You are spending millions we are spending millions (on security). We have to fight poverty and extremism. At government level, we have done many things. Now people-to people contact will clear misunderstandings. We have created a situation for this now.

Q. People keep hearing about dossier on Hafiz Saeed (LeT chief and one of the key 26\11 conspirators). Pakistan appears to be reluctant to get to the bottom of the conspiracy behind the terror attack specifically when all evidence are there on Pakistani soil. Why there is no progress?

A. We have move quite a far from dossier. We have done investigation which even your agencies have appreciated. We have done the investigation and submitted it to our Court where the trial is going on. The Court had formed the Judicial Commission. I have to follow my Court. My Court says until and unless and I repeat until and unless the witnesses are cross-examined they cannot proceed further. I can say with certainty that the trial would have been completed by now if the Judicial Commission from Pakistan had been allowed to cross-examine the four crucial Indian witnesses in the Mumbai attack case when it had visited India (in March, 2012). With the Indian government agreeing to let in the Commission visit Mumbai and cross-examine the witnesses "very soon", the trial in Pakistan (of Lashkar commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi and six other accused) would be concluded swiftly.

Q. You must have discussed these issues when you met Indian delegation here. Would you please spell out those details?

A. I have discussed many things and raised certain issues. I told them that India should share all the details of investigation done at its end...Abu Jundal (who had coordinated the Mumbai terror strikes of Ajmal Kasab and nine other Laskhar terrorists from the Karachi control room) is an Indian. We are also curious as to how he and others landed in Pakistan. He was a known criminal. He worked as a source of an Indian intelligence agency. I am not saying this. He himself has said so. I have seen records...We have to figure out all these...whether non-state actors from the two sides are acting at the instance of a third power. You are aware that things had taken an alarming turn, with both countries massing their troops on the border. Things would have been worse if the leadership on both sides had not shown maturity.

Q. You remarks on Babri Masjid drew lot of attention. A cross-section of people thinks you shouldn't have raised India's internal matter. Your remarks mentioning 9\11, 26\11, Samjhauta Express blasts and Babri Masjid demolition issue in the same breath created unease even among those who are strongly advocating for peace between the two countries. What you have to say about this?

A. There is no comparison, whatsoever, between Babri mosque demolition and 26/11 attacks. Babri mosque was actually ethnic. It was a sectarian strife... It should not be taken in a negative way. I have no intention to interfere in the inter-faith matter. Pakistan itself is a victim of inter-faith clashes, sectarian strife. There have been Shia-Sunni clashes in Pakistan. My intention was not to create confusion but sound caution to the both countries. I am not a kind of person who would interfere in somebody's religion or inter-faith matters but a person who goes out and leads on issues of communal harmony. So, I said like the incidents of 9/11, people dying in Quetta, our Shia and Sunni people are being killed in Karachi. I (had) also said incidents like Mumbai blasts, Babri Masjid case, I am repeating it here and please do not take it in a negative way, we do not want that these things should happen in any region of India and Pakistan. Religious violence often leads to extremism and every efforts should be made to check it.

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