Manmohan Singh tells Pakistan to step up efforts against terrorism
This article was written by Nicholas Watt in Delhi, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 29th July 2010 20.54 UTCIndia tonight intensified its attacks on Islamabad for harbouring terrorists as Delhi capitalised on David Cameron’s warning that elements of the Pakistani state are promoting the export of terrorism.
Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, used a joint press conference with Cameron to demand his neighbour step up its efforts to stop terrorists infiltrating the border into India.
The intervention by Singh, as he praised Cameron for ushering in a new age of Anglo-Indian relations, was a dramatic illustration of the impact of the Prime Minister’s remarks about Pakistan.
Cameron sparked a furious diplomatic row with Pakistan yesterday when he warned that some Pakistan authorities must not “look both ways” on terrorism.
Singh indicated that Cameron’s intervention, which dominated the media in the neighbouring nuclear-powered countries, had had a massive impact.
Sitting next to Cameron, the Indian prime minister said: “I believe after 9/11 the world community has recognised that terrorism constitutes a very important threat to all civilised societies in the world.
“There is complete agreement that no cause is good enough to justify the resort to terrorism. I sincerely hope that the government of Pakistan would honour its commitment to myself and to my predecessor that Pakistan territory will not be allowed to be used for actions of terrorism directed against India. We believe that Pakistan should be paying as much attention to terrorism on the western border of Pakistan as on the eastern border.”
Cameron agreed with his Indian counterpart that his country was facing a terrorist threat as he defended his controversial comments yesterday. The prime minister said: “I just think that the right thing to do is to explain the situation as you see it. No one is in any doubt, least of all the Pakistan government itself, that there has been and still is in Pakistan terrorist organisations like LeT and others which need to be cracked down on and eliminated.
“The Pakistan government has taken steps to do that. We need to do everything to assist them in reducing the impact of terrorism.”
Cameron issued a strong defence of his remarks. He added: “The right way to discuss these things is frankly and openly.”Cameron said he was looking forward to hosting Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan President, at Chequers next week.
The Pakistan government was infuriated by his remarks, and the foreign ministry accused him of believing the leaked US military document which said that the Pakistan Intelligence Service, and the ISI, was still encouraging the Taliban.
The prime minister’s trip suffered one setback in India when Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Nehru-Gandhi clan and leader of the ruling Congress party, cancelled a meeting with David Cameron. It is understood that Gandhi had a compelling reason for cancelling the meeting. Gandhi, known as a diligent MP, has missed two sessions of the Indian parliament this week.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
