New Delhi, December 27
Keeping up the pressure on Islamabad, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to persuade Pakistan to cooperate with India in bringing to book all those who masterminded the Mumbai attacks.
The Prime Minister’s telephonic conversation with Ahmadinejad follows External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee similar conversations with China and Saudi Arabia, two key allies of Pakistan, over the past few days. Mukherjee also spoke to Iranian foreign minister M Mottaki yesterday as India is making a concerted effort to seek out all those countries which exert influence on Pakistan.
UPA sources said Manmohan Singh gave a detailed account of the Mumbai carnage to the Iranian President in his 15-minute conversation and underlined that the attacks were carried out by elements in Pakistan.
Pakistan, he is learnt to have said, must be persuaded to cooperate with India in ensuring that all perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks are brought to book, adding that terrorism could only be fought through global cooperation.
On his part, the Iranian President is learnt to have deplored the Mumbai attacks which, he said, were targeted at disturbing peace and stability in South Asia. While sharing the pain of the Indian people, he agreed with Manmohan Singh that those responsible for this violence should not be allowed to go scot-free.
Given the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over the last month and
the war hysteria raised by Islamabad, New Delhi has repeatedly underlined that it does not want a war but instead wants Pakistan to take steps to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that exists in their country and act against those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. This point was emphasised by Mukherjee when he spoke with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jeichi. Mukherjee pointed out that Pakistan had not taken any steps in dismantling the terror infrastructure on its soil.
India, it is learnt, has told Islamabad that it is not engaged in any troop build up along its border with Pakistan and has reiterated that Islamabad to crack down on terrorists which are operating from its territory.
The message was conveyed by Indian high commissioner Satyabrata Pal in his meeting with Pakistan’s foreign secretary Salman Bashir yesterday. New Delhi has told Islamabad that it has no plans for a military action, but wanted a combination of “executive action and judicial processes” against terrorist elements like the Lashker-e Taiba (LeT) and its front organisation Jamaat-ud Dawah (Jud), which have been linked to the Mumbai attacks.
Minister of State For External Affairs Anand Sharma, however, said the war mongering by Pakistan was unwarranted and irresponsible.”
Instead of indulging in this and creating tension in the subcontinent it would be in the interest of the region and in Pakistan’s own interest to take action against the two organisations LeT and JuD, and also not to give the named terrorist the luxury of house arrest, but to take appropriate action,” he added.
