Washington, December 26
Cranking up pressure on Pakistan, the US demanded that the perpetrators of the unprecedented Mumbai terror attack be “eliminated” and said Islamabad has still a “lot to do” in combatting terrorism. Richard Boucher, the US assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, elaborating on the US aim, said the country’s “immediate focus is to get rid of the terrorists and stop them from doing anything more.”
“Lets find the people responsible, lets eliminate the groups who were responsible and lets make sure we do everything we can to prevent India from suffering this kind of attack again. That’s an immediate focus that requires everybody’s co-operation, and when we are through that co-operation, we can also start co-operation on broader things,” Boucher said, in an interview to All India Radio (AIR).
The strong message from Boucher came in the wake of Pakistani authorities trying to blur the focus away from cracking down on Pakistan-based groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) suspected to have masterminded the Mumbai strikes on November 26 that left 179 persons dead.
“Pakistan has taken some promising steps, but there is a lot to be done to tackle the menace,” Boucher said. Pakistan and India should co-operate and draw a plan to look over such incidents in the future to make certain that such terror assaults against India are curbed, he added.
Boucher further urged Pakistan to understand the significance of the term co-operation in such circumstances. Boucher's comments came close on the heels of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice implored Pakistan to “do everything that it can to help bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice.” “There are lot of issues here and lot of things it should be done. The
focus right now is on getting the groups who took this horrible action, who committed these horrible crimes in Bombay,” Boucher said.
He said the US always wanted to see that “Pakistan be able to control its territory and stop these groups from operating”, insisting “We need to co-operate with Pakistan.” The US official also noted that investigations are underway in India as well as in Pakistan.
And “both the investigations can benefit from exchanging information back and forth, to the extent we can help with that. But I think we also need to look for the possibility where India and Pakistan can jointly co-operate to get rid of these terrorists and keep them from operating in these regions.”
The top US official said Washington and New Delhi were in the process of putting in place “a new kind of cooperation” to prevent such terror attacks in the future.
“We are having a very active diplomatic and investigative dialogue with India,” he stressed.
Boucher also said that America is seriously following up on the Mumbai attack, even as India puts in place, better mechanisms and structures, to strengthen internal security.
He said the US will also continue to work with Pakistan thoroughly to eradicate the menace of terrorism from their soil.
Earlier this week, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, is believed to have stressed on the need for Pakistan to do more to address India’s concerns, including action against elements linked to the Mumbai attack, during his meetings with top Pakistani military leadership in Islamabad.
— PTI
