Trying not to get dragged into the controversy over the quality of evidence on the 7/11 Mumbai blasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that India had “credible evidence” and the joint mechanism with Pakistan was a “trial and experiment.” Singh refused to be dragged into agreeing or disagreeing with either his National Security Adviser M. K Narayanan or Home Secretary V K Duggal but said that he believed Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai blast was a fact and refused to use the same words of either—hence it is unclear what the difference is between “clinching evidence,” “solid evidence,” and “credible evidence.” At the same time, he also reiterated that India was “not going to war with Pakistan .”

Pakistan also seemed very willing to pursue this experiment of joint mechanism to fight terror and promised to provide proposals when the Foreign Secretaries would meet in November. Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told a Pakistani newspaper that his nation wanted “Additional Foreign Secretaries” to head an oversight panel and would include “two relevant people from each side.”

Narayanan had indicated that India wanted a “two-tier mechanism” but it is not clear what that really meant. However, there seems to have been some back-channel discussions between the nations indicating that the modalities of working may be worked out fairly quickly. But there is already sign of frustration showing in security establishments. Former Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee (who became the Minister of External Affairs) and Narayanan had said that India would reconsider the joint mechanism if Pakistan continues to deny and refute every bit of evidence and is not cooperative. In fact, Mukherjee said that the success of the joint mechanism would depend on the information India got from Pakistan in response to what it supplies Islamabad . Pakistan says that the responsibility need to be shared by both sides and the onus is not one-sided.