26/11 aftermath: CPI(M) says war with Pakistan not a solution

KOLKATA: With all the evidence pointing towards elements in Pakistan being involved in Mumbai carnage, CPI(M) on Sunday sought UN role to mount pressure on Islamabad to take action against fugitives hiding in that country and said war with the neighbour was not a solution.

"War with Pakistan was not a solution," CPI(M) Politburo leader Sitaram Yechury said, adding that political and international pressure should be mounted on Pakistan through the United Nations and other countries.

Yechury also suggested that way back home, a political solution must be reached and said that linking religion while combating terrorism will prove to be counterproductive.

"We must find a political solution. In the Indian context, any attempt to combat terrorism by linking it with one religion will be counterproductive," he said.

Referring to the US' attack of Iraq and the Israel-Arab conflict, Yechury said war has not brought any solution there even after several years of conflict.

The Left leader also said that India should not depend heavily on the US to rein in Pakistan, while claiming that Washington had not done much in the aftermath of the Parliament attack and the Kargil war.

Yechury suggested that the UNSC resolution 1373 passed unanimously against terror be invoked against Pakistan.

The CPI(M) leader claimed that the November 26 Mumbai terror strikes would not have happened if he was India's prime minister, saying he would have taken preventive measures to ensure that such attacks did not take place.

"The Mumbai attacks revealed the inadequacy of our intelligence system and these inadequacies have to be addressed," Yechury said.

"There are at least four layers of intelligence with the individual state, IB, RAW and Military Intelligence. There needs to be proper coordination among them," he said at an interactive session here.