PM asks world to put pressure on Pak to rein in terrorists
Ajay Kaul/PTI / Washington Nov 24, 2009, 14:47 IST
Denouncing Pakistan's "selective" approach on the fight against terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the world community to mount pressure on it to desist from such a behaviour and rein in those elements who continue to target India.
He expressed readiness to pick up the "threads of the dialogue" with Pakistan, including on Kashmir, so that they can "write a new chapter" in South Asia's history, but made it clear this could not happen till Islamabad abjures terrorism and comes to the table with "good faith and sincerity".
With the first anniversary of Mumbai carnage just two days away, Singh said at an interaction at US think-tank Council for Foreign Relations yesterday that the trauma of that heinous and barbaric attack continues to "haunt us."
To a question, Singh said there was "enormous pressure" on him after 26/11 to go after Pakistan but "I resisted that pressure" and the decision, on balance, was the "right one".
Observing that terrorism poses an existential threat to the civilised world, he said it must be defeated. "We should not harbour any illusions that a selective approach to terrorism, tackling it in one place while ignoring it in others, will work," Singh underlined .
"Pakistan has done something to control the activities of the Taliban terrorist groups in federally administered areas but it is our sincere belief that it has not acted as it should have acted in dealing with terrorist elements who are using their energies to target our country."
"Nor has Pakistan used all its machinery to bring to book all those murderers, gangs who perpetrated the horrible crime in Mumbai in which 200 of our citizens lost their lives, including six from America," the Prime Minister told the audience comprising American policy-makers and scholars.
Asked about India's response if such an attack occurs again, he said, "I hate to speculate and sincerely hope that such sort of eventuality does not arise."
"That is why, I say, the world community has an obligation to impress upon Pakistan that it must use all its influence to curb the power of terrorist groups," said Singh, who will be discussing with President Barack Obama the problem of terrorism emanating from Afghan-Pakistan region and ways to deal with it during their summit talks.
"Pakistan, in our view, should be pressurised by the world to do much more to bring to book all those people who are responsible for the horrible crime (of 26/11). After all, there is now impeccable evidence that the conspiracy was planned in Pakistan," he said.
Singh noted that the attacks were executed in "active connivance of people who are still roaming about freely in Pakistan", apparently referring to "mastermind" Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed about whom Islamabad says there is no evidence.
"Therefore, I respectfully request the world community to use all its influence, all the power to make Pakistan to desist from that sort of behaviour," he said.
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