Click to play videoNew Delhi: Attacking Pakistan is not the solution to terror menace, said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee while addressing the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"I am making it quite clear that it (war) is not a solution," Pranab Mukherjee said and added that India is building up an international campaign against terror and will try to put adequate pressure on Pakistan to act.
Speaking during the debate on the Mumbai terror attack, Mukherjee said that Pakistan must act against terror groups based on its soil and stop them from launching attacks against India.
"Controllers of Mumbai attacks were in Pakistan. Islamabad should act against them. Pakistan must be forced to act against terrorists. There is irrefutable proof (that) the epicentre of this (Mumbai terror attack) attack and not only this one but many more are in our neighbouring country," said Mukherjee.
The External Affairs Minister hinted that Pakistan has been willingly giving shelter to criminals and terrorists wanted in India and said that it has failed to handover Dawood Ibrahim despite repeated demands made by India.
He also demanded that Pakistan must hand over all those responsible for such dastardly terror attacks on India. “India has demanded arrest and handing over of 40 terrorists taking shelter in Pakistan. Islamabad should seriously act and not be in a denial mode,” he said.
He pointed out that only India but many other countries have also been affected by terror attacks and said that it is now a global phenomenon and must be tackled globally.
"Terror has assumed a dimension that is not confined to individual country. It is not confined within the territorial boundaries of any state. It is now cross border and has become an international phenomenon," Mukherjee said.
He also rubbished Pakistan's claims that terrorists were non-state actors.
"Question is not of the non-state actors. Are they coming from heaven or they are coming from a different planet? They are located in the territory of a particular country. We are suggesting to Pakistan please act. Mere expression of intention is not adequate," thundered Mukherjee,
He also demanded that Pakistan put in legal or police custody Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar and also fulfil India's demands of arresting Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Hafez Sayeed
"I was told by an international interlocutor that Hafiz Saeed was arrested and now after sometime I heard from our mission that he's appearing on TV. Azhar (JeM chief) has been house arrested. What does it mean by house arrest?" he asked.
Responding to Advani's concern that the UN could result in the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue, Mukherjee outlined India's official policy and said India will reject all attempts to link the Kashmir dispute with cross border terrorism.
The Times of India Editorial Advisor Gautam Adhikari says that India is going the right way in dealing with the Mumbai terror attack.
"Identity politics at a time like this when the whole nation is under threat is the wrong way to go. Parties who have been trying to use this have changed their stand. India is going the right way in maintaining a calm profile because going to war with Pakistan is what the terrorists and ISI were aiming for," Adhikari said.
"There is the UN Security Council. China also didn't raise to many questions and went along with the banning of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. There is a lot of pressure can be brought thorough the IMF and US who aid Pakistan. They can ask for monetary accountability from Pakistan," he added.
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