ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: Pakistani human rights and peace activists who undertook a three-day mission to India “to put out the fire of distrust” that erupted in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks have said on return that the Indians would be satisfied if Pakistan came out clean in its investigations into the attacks.

“There is no room for playing further gimmicks if Pakistan wants to renew the official peace process (suspended by India),” four members of the unofficial peace mission organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) told at a seminar on “Peace mission to India and its aftermath”, here on Tuesday.

They found India unwilling to accept Pakistan’s offer to hold investigations jointly, and said the initial denials by Islamabad that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani “poisoned the minds of Indians”.

They said they took care to inform their Indian interlocutors about the innocence of Pakistan state in the heinous affair. It was the work of a group of misguided people out to damage India-Pakistan relations. The perpetrators might belong to the jihadis assembled by the ‘free world’ in Afghanistan to drive the Soviet army out.

Safma secretary-general Imtiaz Alam said the Indian awaited a clean investigation by Pakistan and swift action against the culprits. “In all likelihood that would satisfy the Indian public opinion,” he said.

Senator Haji Adeel of Awami National Party (ANP) reported that he came across very little adverse reaction from the Indian side. In fact, he received warm welcome after he informed Indian audience about his connection with Bacha Khan, the late Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan known as Sarhadi Gandhi in India.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former MNA Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said he convinced Indian leaders like BJP stalwart L.K. Advani, that terrorism being a common concern their two countries should cooperate in fighting it.

Dr A.H. Nayyer, professor of physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad said the Indian civil society realises that now is the time to move proactively towards bridge building and initiating confidence measures between the people of the subcontinent.

TV anchor Asma Sheerazi already perceives a thaw in the initial hostile attitude of Indians towards Pakistan.

APP adds: They said Mumbai terrorist attacks not only added to trust deficit between India and Pakistan but also affected peace process and composite dialogue between the two South Asian neighbours.

They said that 1.5 billion population of the South Asia could not become hostage to a dozen terrorists. Any other Mumbai-like attack would force India to launch surgical strikes in Pakistan, one of the speakers said.

They said that Mumbai was not an isolated incident but part of the menace of terrorism in the whole region.