Mayawati asks PM to focus on terrorism during talks with Sharif

Condemning yesterday's twin terror strikes in Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must clearly talk about terrorism with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York.

"I strongly condemn the twin attacks that took place in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday," Mayawati told media outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

"If our Prime Minister wants to hold talks with Pakistan Prime Minister, then he must clearly talk about such issues (terrorism), otherwise such talks are meaningless," she added.

Three terrorists sneaked across the border into Jammu and Kashmir and killed 10 people, including a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army, in two audacious attacks yesterday.

The militants, who were dressed in Army fatigues, first struck a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district in Jammu at about 6.45 am, killing four cops and two others. They then attacked an Army camp in Samba district and killed four Army men, before being shot dead in a nine-hour-long gun battle.

The attack took place a day after Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh left for the U.S., where he is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks.

Dr. Singh yesterday condemned the terrorist attacks in Jammu, and said such acts would not succeed in "derailing the efforts to find a resolution to all problems through dialogue".

"This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace," Dr. Singh said in a statement.

"We are firmly resolved to combat and defeat the terrorist menace that continues to receive encouragement and reinforcement from across the border," he added.

The leaders of the nuclear-armed neighbours are expected to discuss rising violence in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants fighting security forces in Indian Kashmir since 1989.

Militant strikes in Kashmir, as well as shooting and mortar fire between Indian and Pakistani forces across the border, have risen this year after a decade of falling violence.