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NEW DELHI Calling Pakistan the epicenter of terror attacks against India, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee called on the government in Islamabad Thursday to do more than detain leaders of extremist groups even as he hinted that India does not intend to be provoked into a military conflict.
Mr. Mukherjee, speaking to Parliament in its first session since the three-day siege of Mumbai last month, reiterated Indias demand for about 40 fugitives and suspected terror suspects whom it says are taking shelter in Pakistan. His comments seemed designed to spare the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, with whose democratically elected government he said he had no quarrel.
At the same time, he pressed the Zardari administration to close down the infrastructure that enables terror strikes against India.
Shortly after the Mumbai attacks, Mr. Zardari had described the terror suspects as nonstate actors over whom the Pakistani government had no control. On Thursday, that statement met with a stinging retort from Mr. Mukherjee.
Are they nonstate actors coming from heaven, or they are coming from a different planet? Mr. Mukherjee asked. Nonstate actors are operating from a particular country. What we are most respectfully submitting, suggesting to the government of Pakistan: Please act. Mere expression of intention is not adequate.
It was Indias first reaction to Pakistans crackdown on camps and leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group accused in the Mumbai attacks that killed 163 people, along with 9 suspected gunmen. Officials in Islamabad announced the arrests earlier this week.
The United Nations Security Council declared late Wednesday in New York that a charity based in Pakistan, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba and subject to U.N. sanctions including the freezing of its assets and a travel ban on four of its leaders, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lavki, who was arrested Sunday by Pakistan.
Mr. Mukherjee on Thursday also delivered a message to allies and rivals abroad: India would not be dragged into discussions about disputed Kashmir Province, which the minister described as a domestic problem for its government to negotiate.
This is not an India-Pakistan issue. This is not an issue related to Jammu and Kashmir, he said. This is a part of global terrorism.
The home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, in announcing an overhaul of the nations intelligence network, said the finger of suspicion points at our neighbor, clearly meaning Pakistan.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata party also pledged Thursday to stand by the government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/world/asia/12mumbai.html
Mr. Mukherjee, speaking to Parliament in its first session since the three-day siege of Mumbai last month, reiterated Indias demand for about 40 fugitives and suspected terror suspects whom it says are taking shelter in Pakistan. His comments seemed designed to spare the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, with whose democratically elected government he said he had no quarrel.
At the same time, he pressed the Zardari administration to close down the infrastructure that enables terror strikes against India.
Shortly after the Mumbai attacks, Mr. Zardari had described the terror suspects as nonstate actors over whom the Pakistani government had no control. On Thursday, that statement met with a stinging retort from Mr. Mukherjee.
Are they nonstate actors coming from heaven, or they are coming from a different planet? Mr. Mukherjee asked. Nonstate actors are operating from a particular country. What we are most respectfully submitting, suggesting to the government of Pakistan: Please act. Mere expression of intention is not adequate.
It was Indias first reaction to Pakistans crackdown on camps and leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group accused in the Mumbai attacks that killed 163 people, along with 9 suspected gunmen. Officials in Islamabad announced the arrests earlier this week.
The United Nations Security Council declared late Wednesday in New York that a charity based in Pakistan, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba and subject to U.N. sanctions including the freezing of its assets and a travel ban on four of its leaders, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lavki, who was arrested Sunday by Pakistan.
Mr. Mukherjee on Thursday also delivered a message to allies and rivals abroad: India would not be dragged into discussions about disputed Kashmir Province, which the minister described as a domestic problem for its government to negotiate.
This is not an India-Pakistan issue. This is not an issue related to Jammu and Kashmir, he said. This is a part of global terrorism.
The home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, in announcing an overhaul of the nations intelligence network, said the finger of suspicion points at our neighbor, clearly meaning Pakistan.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata party also pledged Thursday to stand by the government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/world/asia/12mumbai.html
