Training guns on cross-border terror, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday said peace efforts with Pakistan will have to wait till Islamabad initiated demonstrable action against terror perpetrators and havens inside its territories.
The unified rhetoric rang through election bound Kashmir and the national capital. As India called on Pakistan to follow up on its promise of action against the “elements” which orchestrated the attacks in Mumbai last month and the future of bilateral ties depended on Pakistan sincerely investigating the incident.
“We expect good sense will prevail in the backdrop of these assurances and [hope] a conducive atmosphere can be built up. That is possible only after words are followed by action,” Mukherjee told the media in Srinagar.
The assurances he referred to were extended by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on January 6, 2000 and reiterated by Asif Ali Zardari at a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 24 this year. Both the leaders had promised to dismantle terror infrastructure vowed to block the use of Pakistan’s soil for launching terror strikes in and against India.
Dispelling prevalent notions, Mukherjee called on the international community to refrain from linking the Mumbai terror attack to the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
He added that evidence of Pakistani hand in previous terror incidents against unarmed civilians in India was submitted to Islamabad on several occasions. India also forwarded a list of 40 people wanted for various terror related crimes in India.
Citing the example of Maulana Masood Azhar, Mukherjee questioned: “What is the problem in handing him over?”
Azhar was in jail in India and released in exchange for air passengers aboard Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which hijacked by terrorists to Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 1999, when the National Democratic Alliance government was in power.
Mukherjee said internal dialogue on Kashmir would continue and called upon separatists to join the process by participating in democratic politics.
Meanwhile in New Delhi, quashing speculation of India planning air strikes against terror camps in Pakistan, AK Antony said India was not considering military options at the moment but added that he could not comment on what course of action would be adopted if Islamabad failed to initiate action against terror networks operating out of its territories.
“We are not planning any military action but at the same time unless Pakistan takes actions against those terrorists who are operating from their soil against India and also against all those who are behind the Mumbai terrorist attack, things will not be normal,” said Antony.
He was speaking on the occasion of ‘Vijay Diwas’ commemorating the 37th anniversary of India’s military victory over Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war.
Denying a build up of troops along the border, he said: “Everything is normal because our forces are always ready,” while negating reports speculating that India was planning to call off the five-year old ceasefire with Pakistan.
The unified rhetoric rang through election bound Kashmir and the national capital. As India called on Pakistan to follow up on its promise of action against the “elements” which orchestrated the attacks in Mumbai last month and the future of bilateral ties depended on Pakistan sincerely investigating the incident.
“We expect good sense will prevail in the backdrop of these assurances and [hope] a conducive atmosphere can be built up. That is possible only after words are followed by action,” Mukherjee told the media in Srinagar.
The assurances he referred to were extended by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on January 6, 2000 and reiterated by Asif Ali Zardari at a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 24 this year. Both the leaders had promised to dismantle terror infrastructure vowed to block the use of Pakistan’s soil for launching terror strikes in and against India.
Dispelling prevalent notions, Mukherjee called on the international community to refrain from linking the Mumbai terror attack to the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
He added that evidence of Pakistani hand in previous terror incidents against unarmed civilians in India was submitted to Islamabad on several occasions. India also forwarded a list of 40 people wanted for various terror related crimes in India.
Citing the example of Maulana Masood Azhar, Mukherjee questioned: “What is the problem in handing him over?”
Azhar was in jail in India and released in exchange for air passengers aboard Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which hijacked by terrorists to Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 1999, when the National Democratic Alliance government was in power.
Mukherjee said internal dialogue on Kashmir would continue and called upon separatists to join the process by participating in democratic politics.
Meanwhile in New Delhi, quashing speculation of India planning air strikes against terror camps in Pakistan, AK Antony said India was not considering military options at the moment but added that he could not comment on what course of action would be adopted if Islamabad failed to initiate action against terror networks operating out of its territories.
“We are not planning any military action but at the same time unless Pakistan takes actions against those terrorists who are operating from their soil against India and also against all those who are behind the Mumbai terrorist attack, things will not be normal,” said Antony.
He was speaking on the occasion of ‘Vijay Diwas’ commemorating the 37th anniversary of India’s military victory over Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war.
Denying a build up of troops along the border, he said: “Everything is normal because our forces are always ready,” while negating reports speculating that India was planning to call off the five-year old ceasefire with Pakistan.
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