With a view to mount all-around pressure on Pakistan to compel it to take stern action against Mumbai terror perpetrators and dismantle terror apparatus in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be meeting here on Tuesday with all the heads of the Indian missions from across the globe.
The Prime Minister is expected to ask the Ambassadors and High Commissioners, who are in New Delhi to discuss Mumbai terror strikes, to keep up building pressure on Pakistan who has unfortunately resorted to the policy of denial.
Although there have been regional conferences in the past, this is the first time that 120 heads of Indian missions from across the globe are meeting.
On Monday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the two-day meet and continues his scathing attack on Pakistan for his ‘policy of denial’. Briefing envoys on the diplomatic offensive taken against Pakistan by India as of now, Mukherjee said: “Unfortunately, Pakistan’s response so far has demonstrated their earlier tendency to resort to a policy of denial and to seek to deflect and shift the blame and responsibility.
‘No responsible nation can escape its commitment and India wants Pakistan to do whatever it has committed,’ Mukherkee said. He warned Pakistan that India had kept all its options open if Islamabad did not act against terror outfits based on its soil.
Pakistan, unconvinced of evidences provided by India, has not yet accepted that ten gunmen who carried out Mumbai carnage are its nationals. “Not once, twice or thrice but as many as ten times we have given evidence. Please pursue those evidences and take action as per your law," Mukherjee said.
“We have so far acted with utmost restraint and are hopeful that the international community will use its influence to pressurise the civilian government of Pakistan to deliver on its promises,” he added.
Intensifying global pressure on Pakistan, he exhorted the international community to do more to tackle terrorism as the current efforts taken so far were not enough. He urged the international community to do more to dismantle the terror infrastructure in Pakistan which has become the greatest threat to world peace and stability.
He, however, said ultimately it is we who have to deal with this problem. We will take all necessary measures as we deem fit to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, India on Monday summoned Pakistani envoy and handed over him a letter written by Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone Mumbai perpetrator in Mumbai police’s custody, depicting he and his fellow gunmen killed on Nov 26 were from Pakistan.
But Pakistan remained defiant even after Kasab’s letter and Pakistan Dawn News quoted Pak foreign ministry sources saying, ‘the unsigned letter itself is not sufficient. The Indian government needs to provide ample proof to identify Kasab’s identity.’
Situation, meanwhile, went grim as Pakistani fighter jets scrambled over main towns, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi as a sign of increased vigilance amid rising tensions between both the countries.
In an instant reaction to the Islamabad’s move, India too deployed reaction air force and army on the western border. Air force units have also been deployed at Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bhuj, and BSF is put on high alert. The situation, however, is in control at the border.
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