David Miliband attacks 'loudmouth' Cameron over Pakistan comments
Former foreign secretary criticises PM for warning that Pakistan 'should not be allowed to promote the export of terror
Hélène Mulholland and Nicholas Watt in Delhi guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 July 2010 16.14 BST
David Miliband said there was a 'big difference between straight-talking and being a loudmouth'. Photograph: Graeme Robertson
David Cameron was today accused of being a "loudmouth" by David Miliband, the former foreign secretary and Labour leadership contender, over his claims that elements of the Pakistani state are responsible for exporting terrorism abroad.
The prime minister stood by his warning that Pakistan should not be allowed "to promote the export of terror" in the world, despite the anger his comments have provoked. Cameron said he would always talk "frankly" to Britain's friends as he insisted he had caused no offence and had not blamed the Islamabad government for promoting terrorism.
Speaking in New Delhi this morning on the second and final day of his visit to India, the prime minister said: "I don't think the British taxpayer wants me to go around the world saying what people want to hear."
Miliband rounded on Cameron's comments, claiming there was a "big difference between straight-talking and being a loudmouth".
Miliband said everyone had "two ears and one mouth" and it was important to use them "in that proportion" when it came to foreign policy.
While Pakistan must go "further and faster" in dealing with the terrorism that has been launched from its own midst, it was also important to recognise how much Pakistan itself has suffered from the terrorism that afflicts the whole of south Asia, said Miliband, who insisted that he was not seeking to score points as part of his leadership bid.
He told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "It is very, very important that the prime minister, who in three unscripted appearances at press conferences has gone off script ... understands that we have got two ears and one mouth and it is very important to use them in that proportion."
Cameron today dismissed fears that his comments risked overshadowing a visit next week to Chequers by the Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari.
"I don't think it's overshadowed anything," he said. "I think it's important to speak frankly and clearly about these issues. I have always done that in the past and will do so in the future."
The prime minister insisted that he had been talking about "people within Pakistan" who launch terrorist attacks abroad rather than its government.
A furious diplomatic row erupted between London and Islamabad last night after Cameron's comments yesterday, when he warned that Pakistan could no longer "look both ways" by tolerating terrorism while demanding respect as a democracy.
Angry responses followed from Pakistani officials in the UK and the foreign ministry in Islamabad.
The prime minister initiated the row yesterday morning in a speech to Indian business leaders in Bangalore, when he spoke of his horror at the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai for which New Delhi directly blamed the Pakistani authorities.
Cameron came close to endorsing that view when he said: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able to promote the export of terror, whether to India or Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world."
Pakistan took the rare step of issuing an official rebuttal. Abdul Basit, a spokesman for the Pakistani foreign ministry, told Radio 4's World at One: "There is no question of Pakistan looking the other way. I think the prime minister was referring to these reports, which are unverifiable and outdated. If we start drawing inferences from these self-serving reports, then obviously we are distracting ourselves."
Downing Street insisted the prime minister was not accusing Pakistan's government of sponsoring terrorism. But a few minutes after his speech, Cameron made clear that official agencies in Pakistan were responsible for harbouring terrorists.
Asked on the Today programme whether Pakistan exports terrorism, Cameron said: "I choose my words very carefully. It is unacceptable for anything to happen within Pakistan that is about supporting terrorism elsewhere. It is well-documented that that has been the case in the past, and we have to make sure that the Pakistan authorities are not looking two ways. They must only look one way, and that is to a democratic and stable Pakistan."
David Miliband attacks 'loudmouth' Cameron over Pakistan comments | Politics | guardian.co.uk
, Karan i thought you were a senior member and one of the only Indian members i have high respect for. But lets not start wet dreaming, Iran is no Afghanistan or Iraq. US simply does not has the resources and the manpower to invade a country as big as Iran. Its not only FATA where the terrorists are based, majority have moved up their camps into Afghanistan because NATO simply does not has the manpower and will to take them head on. Have you ever wondered why the Taliban and Warlords affiliated with Taliban control more than 60% of Afghanistan, having control of Kabul does not mean you have the control of Afghanistan.
