Shah

New Delhi, July 3: The Lal Masjid standoff has virtually cut short the India-Pakistan talks in Delhi, with two senior Pakistani officials leaving for home.

Pakistan interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah and his high-profile spokesman, Brigadier (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema, took the Air-India flight to Amritsar tonight and will cross the Wagah border tomorrow morning.

For all practical purposes, the two-day home secretary talks are now over. The Indian officials were at their diplomatic best all day, avoiding any mention of the terrible irony of the mosque operation while they discussed visa issues, better treatment for prisoners and even security concerns.

But across Delhi, officials were glued to their TV screens, watching the offensive against Islamic radicalism unfold in the heart of Islamabad.

Yesterday, the Pakistan interior secretary had said, “We are vehemently opposed to terrorism; we condemn it in all forms and manifestations.’’ His words seemed prescient today.

Home secretary Madhukar Gupta led the discussions from the Indian side. Both teams agreed to set up three groups that will deal with the issues of visas, consular access to prisoners in each other’s jails, and more humane treatment of the captives.

Analysts said an operation to free Lal Masjid was bound to take place sooner or later after madarsa students living in the compound began kidnapping government officials, citizens and foreigners on an anti-vice drive.

Today’s offensive may even have been provoked to get the women and children out of the mosque. Pakistani authorities had realised they couldn’t delay acting after some of the vigilantes abducted six Chinese women and Beijing complained.

Journalists inside

Three journalists, including two westerners, who were conducting interviews at the women’s madarsa in the Lal Masjid compound, were believed to be still inside tonight.