21 Jan 2009,
NEW DELHI: Keeping up the pressure on Islamabad, India warned Pakistan against trying to deflect attention from the core issue of terrorism and said that the whole world is watching Pakistan to see if it dismantles the terror infrastructure.
Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma asked Pakistan to act tough against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks a day after Islamabad launched its own diplomatic offensive by inviting envoys for a special briefing on the action taken by Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks.
Even though Islamabad has changed its tune in the last couple of days, New Delhi remains unconvinced about Pakistan’s intentions. This scepticism is reflected in numerous statements that have been made by the Indian government.
Mr Sharma said that Pakistan should not try to divert attention as India has enough proof of Pakistani links in the Mumbai attacks. “It would be better if there is no diversion or deflection at this stage,” Mr Sharma said and added, “I think we are talking here about what is firmly established about the dastardly attack in Mumbai carried out by organisations which have been identified and named and individuals who are nationals of Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan has been using different tactics to divert attention from the issue of taking action against the terror infrastructure targeted against India. The latest has been to raise the possibility of Pakistan asking for the Samjhauta accused to counter India’s demand for handing over of fugitives.
“I have to say that the whole world is watching how effective actions would be to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and also bring to justice those who are responsible for masterminding the carnage in Mumbai,” Mr Sharma said.
His comments come a day after external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee did some tough talking saying that countries that do not follow a ``zero tolerance’’ policy on terrorism must be made to pay a heavy price. Mr Mukherjee also indicated that India expected the international community to ensure that countries that support or tolerate terrorism should be pushed to dismantle the terror infrastructure.
On Pakistan’s offer of a joint investigation, Mr Sharma said that Islamabad should first make a full disclosure of the investigations that it was conducting on the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan, which only recently acknowledged the existence of Pakistani links, has been pressing for a joint probe into the Mumbai attacks. However, India is against a joint probe. Sources said that sharing of information in past terror cases has only led to the disappearance of clues or leads. India is now waiting for the response from Pakistan on the terror dossier which is likely to take place in the coming days.
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