In a total rejection of Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray’s call to attack Pakistan, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Pakistan to avoid “war hysteria” and simply act to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure operating in its country.
“The issue is not war, the issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to promote, aid and abet this terror,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters. “Nobody wants war.”
He asked the world community to pressurize Islamabad to dismantle the “terror machine” in the wake of strikes on Mumbai, which was an attack on India’s “ambitions to emerge as an economic power”.
Singh clearly hinted at Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks as he said “non-state actors were practising terrorism aided and abetted by state establishments.”
Addressing a conclave of over 120 Indian Ambassadors and High Commissioners, he said India was seeking peace and stability in its neighbourhood but the situation was “worrisome”.
Referring to terror strikes in Mumbai, he said these were “an attack on the country’s ambitions to emerge as an economic power” but “India would not accept a situation where terrorism is used as an instrument to cripple India’s economy or the values it stands for.”
Later talking to reporters outside Parliament, Singh said India does not want war with Pakistan but would like Islamabad to dismantle the “terror machine” existing on its soil and the international community to use its “power” to persuade Islamabad to do so.
“The issue is not war. The issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to provoke, to aid and abet terrorism. I think that is the issue, the issue is not war. Nobody wants war,” he said when asked to speak on the present standoff with Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also gave a strong message to Pakistan. He said, “Don’t create war hysteria. Act against those responsible for Mumbai attacks.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani reportedly assured the nation’s leadership that Pakistan’s armed forces will mount an equal response “within minutes” if India carries out any surgical strike inside the country.
During a meeting at the presidency, Kayani informed President Asif Ali Zardari about the operational preparedness of the military in the face of mounting tensions with India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The armed forces were “fully prepared to meet any “eventuality” and the “men are ready to (make a) sacrifice for their country”, Kayani was quoted as saying by pro-establishment The News daily.
Pakistan Dawn News quoted Pakistan foreign ministry sources saying that the ‘letter itself is not ample proof’, as urged by the ministry of external affairs.
Meanwhile, Pakistan remained defiant even after arrested terrorist’s repeated confessions to the Mumbai police and investigations by both – international and Pakistan’s domestic media that have proved Kasab’s identity.
Dawn News television quoted Pak foreign office sources saying, “The Indian government needs to provide ample proof to establish Kasab’s identity.”
Pakistan’s shocking response comes after India summoned Pakistan’s acting high commissioner and handed over a letter written by Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Amir Iman ‘Kasab’ to Pakistan government.
In another significant development, the Taliban said they would back the Pakistan Army by deploying hundreds of suicide bombers in case of any military action with India.
Claiming that “thousands of our well-armed militants are ready to fight alongside the army if any war is imposed on Pakistan,” chief of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, told The News daily by phone from an undisclosed location.
Hundreds of would-be bombers had been “given suicide jackets and explosive-laden vehicles for protection of the border in case of any aggression by the Indian forces”, he said.
“The time had come, to wage a real jihad that the Taliban had been waiting for,” Mehsud, for whom the Pakistani and US forces are on the look out claimed.
“We know very well that the visible and invisible enemies of the country have been planning to weaken this lone Islamic nuclear power. But the mujahideen will foil all such nefarious designs of our enemies,” he said.
This is for the first time Mehsud has admitted that Taliban has marshalled thousands of fighters close to the Afghan-Pak border and where Pakistani army has launched a major operation to flush them out.
As tension between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours simmered, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani warned on Monday that the armed forces were fully capable of defending the country and the people would be united if war was imposed.
But Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Pakistan should focus on the issues. “The issue is not creating war hysteria or raising accusing finger against others”.
“(The) question is there has been a sinister, heinous terrorist attack on Mumbai from the elements in Pakistan. India has requested Pakistan to take action against the perpetrators,” he told reporters.
Mukherjee has previously said “all options” were open to India to pressure Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks, but analysts said a military strike remains very unlikely, as it would strengthen the hand of hawks and extremists in Pakistan.
Instead India is trying to build an international diplomatic consensus to put pressure on Pakistan, and has received support from the United States and the United Nations.
Pakistan strenuously denies any state links to the Mumbai attack.
Related posts:
