Govt highlights diplomatic victory after 26/11 attacks
Congress has pitched Islamabad’s partial admission of Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks as a major foreign policy success of the UPA government.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Congress has pitched Islamabad���s partial admission of Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks as a major foreign policy success of the UPA government. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a reality check said India expected Pakistan to do much more to bring the culprits of the attacks to book.
Mr Singh, whose government has been facing charges from the Opposition of being soft on terror, also ruled out using the military option saying that his government would continue to give diplomacy a chance as far as Pakistan is concerned. He added that it was fortunate that India���s diplomatic efforts had yielded results. ���...we made important diplomatic efforts.
Fortunately, those efforts have succeeded. For the first time, Pakistan has admitted that its own citizens have been involved in the terrorist act,��� the prime minister said. ���We expect Pakistan to take the next step (to ensure) justice is done and culprits are punished. We still believe diplomacy should be given a chance. No purpose is served by war hysteria,��� he added.
Nevertheless, Congress manifesto played up Pakistan���s partial admission as a foreign policy success and criticised what it calls BJP���s ���muscular��� foreign policy towards dealing with terror.
���After the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai, the Congress-led UPA government mounted a forceful diplomatic campaign.
It was this campaign that led to Pakistan admitting, for the first time, that Pakistani citizens were responsible for the attacks. That admission was a notable victory for our well thought out foreign policy,��� the manifesto said. The manifesto maintained that the responsibility to book the culprits of the Mumbai terror attacks was now on Pakistan and promised that a future Congress-led government would work towards improving ties with Islamabad once it took steps to dismantle the terror network.
Meanwhile, Mr Singh also took the opportunity to send a message to Pakistan saying that India expected more to be done to bring the guilty to book.
���There was justified anger, and we also knew that this act was perpetrated by actors who came from Pakistan. We expect the government of Pakistan to bring all the culprits to book,��� he said.
Mr Singh, whose government has been facing charges from the Opposition of being soft on terror, also ruled out using the military option saying that his government would continue to give diplomacy a chance as far as Pakistan is concerned. He added that it was fortunate that India���s diplomatic efforts had yielded results. ���...we made important diplomatic efforts.
Fortunately, those efforts have succeeded. For the first time, Pakistan has admitted that its own citizens have been involved in the terrorist act,��� the prime minister said. ���We expect Pakistan to take the next step (to ensure) justice is done and culprits are punished. We still believe diplomacy should be given a chance. No purpose is served by war hysteria,��� he added.
Nevertheless, Congress manifesto played up Pakistan���s partial admission as a foreign policy success and criticised what it calls BJP���s ���muscular��� foreign policy towards dealing with terror.
���After the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai, the Congress-led UPA government mounted a forceful diplomatic campaign.
It was this campaign that led to Pakistan admitting, for the first time, that Pakistani citizens were responsible for the attacks. That admission was a notable victory for our well thought out foreign policy,��� the manifesto said. The manifesto maintained that the responsibility to book the culprits of the Mumbai terror attacks was now on Pakistan and promised that a future Congress-led government would work towards improving ties with Islamabad once it took steps to dismantle the terror network.
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Criticising BJP���s foreign policy, Congress said, ���The country knows the heavy price that was paid for such a ���muscular��� foreign policy ��� stupor in Kargil, surrender in Kandahar and stalemate in Operation Parakram,��� the manifesto stated.Meanwhile, Mr Singh also took the opportunity to send a message to Pakistan saying that India expected more to be done to bring the guilty to book.
���There was justified anger, and we also knew that this act was perpetrated by actors who came from Pakistan. We expect the government of Pakistan to bring all the culprits to book,��� he said.
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