Pakistan told to take action on terror

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India has made it amply clear to Pakistan that if the two countries are to have any forward movement in their bilateral relationship, Islamabad will need to take “firm action to curb terrorism” during the meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with visiting Pak President Asif Ali Zardari earlier this month.

Stating this in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna also told the House: “He (the PM) conveyed that it was imperative to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice and prevent activities aimed against India from Pakistani soil.” ]

The two leaders also acknowledged that there has been “steady progress in the bilateral dialogue process” which was resumed last year after it came to a grinding halt post the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. They also agreed that the dialogue process “will continue as planned in the months to come”.

As for core issues such as Kashmir, Sir Creek and Siachen, Mr Krishna told Parliament: “Both leaders felt that we need to move forward step by step and find pragmatic and mutually acceptable solutions to all those issues.”

As has already been reported following the meeting of the two leaders, the PM also drew the attention of the Pakistan President to the “activities” of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed “carried out in public”. He also told the Pakistan President that “it was imperative to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice and prevent activities aimed against India from Pakistani soil”, Mr Krishna told the LS.

The external affairs minister also said in his statement, “It would be evident that our concerns on terrorism had to be addressed if the people of India are to support and sustain progress in bilateral relations.”

In response, Mr Zardari is said to have referred to the “judicial processes against Saeed” while also saying that this matter needs to be discussed further between the two governments. This issue is to be discussed further when the home secretaries of the two countries meet, the two leaders noted during their meeting.

As regards the invite that Mr Zardari extended to Dr Singh to visit Pakistan, Mr Krishna told the House that it has been accepted and he will be visiting at an “appropriate time”.