Pakistan has once again asked India to provide credible evidence for it to move against any suspects linked to Mumbai attacks as its top diplomat in Washington stressed the need for cooler heads to prevail with recognition of the fact that both neighbours are victims of terrorism.
"If India does provide us evidence, Pakistan will be able to act on it much better, I think we need to go beyond the rhetoric phase now into action phase," Ambassador Husain Haqqani told Foreign Exchange Channel. Haqqani called for the two countries to co-operate towards curbing the menace.
"We need to have cooler heads prevail and recognise that India and Pakistan are both victims of terrorism. India has always had a democratic government. Pakistan now has a democratic government and there is a great opportunity for the two democracies to work together," said the envoy, who has made a series of appearances on the US electronic media since the crisis unfolded last month, renewing tensions between two South Asian nuclear powers.
The envoy cited Islamabad's serious anti-terrorism actions since then and said its response to the Mumbai crisis had been very thoughtful and in co-operative spirit. He said the international community including the US Britain, and even the India leaders had acknowledged that the Pakistani State and its government organisations had nothing to do with the Mumbai events.
Haqqani said the terrorists wanted to pit Pakistan and India against each other as well as target the Pakistani democracy. The envoy reaffirmed Islamabad's firm resolve to fight terrorism and was confident of co-operative Pakistan-US efforts against the menace in the Afghan-Pakistan border region under President-elect Barack Obama's administration that takes charge on January 20, 2009.
"I see no reason why Pakistan would withdraw its support from global fight against terrorism," he stated in response to a question. He said violent extremism posed a challenge to Pakistan's security and reminded that "more Pakistanis have been killed (in terrorism incidents) than (in) any other country in the region."
Elaborating Pakistan's anti-terrorism strategy, he underscored the importance of combining various elements into the overall plan, particularly the economic development. The problem could in no way be solved in the short-term but only through a long-term strategy, he stated.
In this respect, he welcomed Biden-Lugar legislation pending before US Congress and said Pakistan and the United States would work as partners to address the problem. Only Pakistani forces would deal with violent extremists that might be operating on its side of the Afghan border, he stated.
"Pakistan will not stop co-operating with the international community in the war on terror. At the same time, Pakistan is not going to be pressured and bullied ...We want to engage with the international community and be part of a stable global future where there is no terrorism."
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