'LeT will not give up violence even if Kashmir dispute ends'

LONDON: Stephen Pound, a pro-India British lawmaker on Friday said Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Toeba blamed for the Mumbai attack, will not give up violence even if the Kashmir dispute is resolved.

"Lashker-e-Toeba has tasted blood. They will not give up violence even if the Kashmir dispute is resolved tomorrow," Pound, former Chairman of the 'Labour Friends of India', a pro-India parliamentary lobby said.

Pound, who was in India this week, was reacting after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband wrote that India needed to resolve the Kashmir dispute in order to combat the LeT.

Writing in the Guardian yesterday, Miliband said "although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders."

Pound said "India is much closer to the Line of Control than Britain. Kargil happened not too long ago. If I were the Indian minister of defence, I'd want other countries to keep quiet about the subject."