India demands more global pressure on Pakistan
Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said pressure put on Pakistan by world leaders was inadequate.
By Agencies |
NEW DELHI: Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday criticised the international reaction to last month's attacks on Mumbai, saying pressure put on Pakistan by world leaders was inadequate.
Pranab Mukherjee said that he wanted to see more results from US-led attempts to force Pakistan to co-operate with the probe into the attacks, which India blames on Pakistan-based militants.
"There has been some effort so far by the international community but this is not enough," Mukherjee told a meeting of India's ambassadors called to New Delhi to discuss the Mumbai siege.
Asked whether a military response to the attacks was being considered, Mukherjee said India would "explore all options" to push Pakistan on its promise to crack down on cross-border terrorism.
He said India had "so far acted with utmost restraint" after gunmen killed 163 people in Mumbai -- but he added that it could not afford to stand back and rely on others to tackle Pakistan.
"While we continue to persuade the international community and Pakistan, we are also clear that ultimately it is we who have to deal with this problem," he said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have been among the world leaders to visit the region since the attacks on India's financial capital.
Both sought to calm tensions between the nuclear-armed rival nations, and to persuade Pakistan it must deal with militant groups on its soil.
"We expect Pakistan to do whatever it has committed," said Mukherjee. "We want it to fulfill its promises, fulfill its commitments as a responsible member of the community of nations."
He said Pakistan's response to the attacks demonstrated its "tendency to resort to a policy of denial" and warned that militants based in Pakistan continued "to threaten peace and stability in this region and beyond."
Pakistan refuses to hand over suspects in the Mumbai strikes and rejects evidence that the 10 gunmen were from Pakistan.
New Delhi blames the carnage on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based militant group fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Under pressure from the UN, Pakistan banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa, one of the country's largest charities, which is accused of being a front for LeT.
An elite commando force meanwhile announced plans on Monday to deploy its troops in four key cities as a precaution against possible terror strikes.
"Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai are the four places identified as the new hubs for the National Security Guards (NSG)," organisation head J.K. Dutt said, adding the force will raise additional commando units.
The Delhi-based NSG was instrumental in ending the 60-hour siege of two hotels and a Jewish cultural centre in Mumbai.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain and nearly came to a fourth in 2001 after an attack on the Indian parliament blamed on cross-border militants.
The Lashkar has already been banned by Pakistan, but India accuses Islamabad of not cracking down on the group.
India put on hold a 2004 peace process with Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks.
Pranab Mukherjee said that he wanted to see more results from US-led attempts to force Pakistan to co-operate with the probe into the attacks, which India blames on Pakistan-based militants.
"There has been some effort so far by the international community but this is not enough," Mukherjee told a meeting of India's ambassadors called to New Delhi to discuss the Mumbai siege.
Asked whether a military response to the attacks was being considered, Mukherjee said India would "explore all options" to push Pakistan on its promise to crack down on cross-border terrorism.
He said India had "so far acted with utmost restraint" after gunmen killed 163 people in Mumbai -- but he added that it could not afford to stand back and rely on others to tackle Pakistan.
"While we continue to persuade the international community and Pakistan, we are also clear that ultimately it is we who have to deal with this problem," he said.
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have been among the world leaders to visit the region since the attacks on India's financial capital.
Both sought to calm tensions between the nuclear-armed rival nations, and to persuade Pakistan it must deal with militant groups on its soil.
"We expect Pakistan to do whatever it has committed," said Mukherjee. "We want it to fulfill its promises, fulfill its commitments as a responsible member of the community of nations."
He said Pakistan's response to the attacks demonstrated its "tendency to resort to a policy of denial" and warned that militants based in Pakistan continued "to threaten peace and stability in this region and beyond."
ADVERTISEMENT
Pakistan refuses to hand over suspects in the Mumbai strikes and rejects evidence that the 10 gunmen were from Pakistan.
New Delhi blames the carnage on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based militant group fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir.
ADVERTISEMENT
Under pressure from the UN, Pakistan banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa, one of the country's largest charities, which is accused of being a front for LeT.
An elite commando force meanwhile announced plans on Monday to deploy its troops in four key cities as a precaution against possible terror strikes.
"Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai are the four places identified as the new hubs for the National Security Guards (NSG)," organisation head J.K. Dutt said, adding the force will raise additional commando units.
The Delhi-based NSG was instrumental in ending the 60-hour siege of two hotels and a Jewish cultural centre in Mumbai.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain and nearly came to a fourth in 2001 after an attack on the Indian parliament blamed on cross-border militants.
The Lashkar has already been banned by Pakistan, but India accuses Islamabad of not cracking down on the group.
India put on hold a 2004 peace process with Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks.
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