Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) Ahead of likely talks with his Pakistani counterpart in Thimphu next month, India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday dubbed Pakistan as the ‘epicentre of terrorism’ and targeted Islamabad for its inaction against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage.
‘Pakistan should be sensitive to a few of our concerns. One of our concerns is terrorism and how Pakistan deals with terror and terrorists,’ Krishna told the Indian media here after an interaction with the Indian community.
He was reacting to a question on recent remarks made by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who backed a constructive and productive dialogue with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir problem.
Krishna conveyed New Delhi’s mounting exasperation with Islamabad for inaction against those who plotted the Mumbai carnage. ‘They (Islamabad) have not been able to punish any of those accused of masterminding, conspiring for that attack. When I went to Islamabad (in July last year) I conveyed that to Foreign Minister Qureshi with passion.’
‘I think public opinion back in India will feel assuaged when those culprits, who are responsible for those attacks in Mumbai, are brought to justice.’
Krishna’s remarks came ahead of the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Thimphu next month. The two diplomats are expected to set the agenda for talks between Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.
The Bhutan meeting is likely to be a precursor to the visit by Qureshi to India later this year.
Krishna, however, added that India wanted to see a stable and democratic Pakistan.
In an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Krishna described Pakistan as the ‘epicentre of terrorism’.
‘In my opinion, Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism in the region,’ he said. He added that NATO-led forces in Afghanistan should think twice about engaging Pakistan as an ally in the battle against the Taliban.
Pakistan has arrested seven suspects, including Lashkar-i-Taiba chief Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, but the trial of terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks continues to drag more than two years after the carnage.
