Indian PM tells Pakistan:
Crackdown on militants
INDIA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh marked India’s
independence day Sunday with a warning to Pakistan that a recent
resumption of dialogue would go nowhere unless Islamabad cracks down on
militancy.
In a wide-ranging speech that addressed domestic issues of high
inflation and religious tolerance, Singh also called for an end to a
cycle of violent separatist protests in Indian Kashmir and urged Maoist
rebels to lay down their arms and begin talks.
The Prime Minister gave his annual address from the ramparts of the
Red Fort in the Indian capital, which had been turned into a virtual
fortress with nearly 80,000 police and troops guarding against a
possible militant strike.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, we expect from them that they would
not let their territory be used for acts of terrorism against India,”
Singh said.
“If this is not done, we cannot progress far in our dialogue with
Pakistan,” he added.
India suspended a peace dialogue with Pakistan in the wake of the
November 2008 Mumbai attacks, which claimed 166 lives, and the two
countries have only recently begun to explore a resumption of structured
talks.
India accuses Pakistan of failing to crack down sufficiently on
militant groups that operate from bases on its territory, such as the
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi blames for the Mumbai carnage.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the division of the
sub-continent in 1947 and their relationship has always been beset by
mutual mistrust.
Pakistan marks its independence a day earlier than India, but the
government there scrapped official celebrations on Saturday out of
deference to the millions of people affected by the worst floods in the
country’s history.
In New Delhi, police shut down public car parks, closed markets and
declared a temporary no-fly zone to prevent aerial attacks on the main
independence day venue.
The United States warned in an advisory last week of a risk of
attacks by Islamic militants in Indian cities.
Security was especially tight in Indian Kashmir where protests
against Indian rule have claimed nearly 60 lives in the past two months.
Thousands were out on the streets of the Kashmiri summer capital
Srinagar again on Sunday, which separatist leaders wanted marked as a
“black day.”
Regretting the loss of life, Singh said his government stood ready to
talk with all parties in Kashmir once calm had been restored.
New Delhi, AFP |