Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday called upon the government to link talks with Pakistan to credible action by it against terrorist elements and said that the dialogue should proceed only on indications of a change of attitude by Islamabad.
“BJP feels that the talks with Pakistan should be directly pegged with credible action by the Pakistan government against terrorist elements, especially the ones accused of the Mumbai attacks. Recognising the non-serious attitude of Pakistan, the Indian government should ensure that talks are conducted only when there are credible indications of a change of attitude in the Pakistani establishment,” BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here.

The “obstinate attitude” of Pakistan and the “foul-mouthed approach” of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi indicated “a total lack of sincerity” on the country’s part to promote cordial and peaceful relations with India, he said.

“It is clear that Pakistan is only going through the motions of holding talks while keenly pursuing its subversive agenda towards India by patronising and shielding the terrorist elements operating with impunity from its soil,” Rudy said.

The BJP leader said that Pakistan does not seem to be serious about taking firm action against individuals and organisations fomenting trouble in India in spite of voluminous evidence shared with it including the damning revelations made by Pakistani American terrorist David Headley who helped the Lashkar-e-Taiba plot the Mumbai carnage.

Accusing the government of embarking “on a dangerous policy of bending over backwards to capitulate to unreasonable Pakistani rhetoric and demands to somehow keep the charade of talks going on”, Rudy said the talks should be made concomitant to Pakistani action against anti-India subversive elements.

He said that the revelations indicating the involvement of Pakistan Navy in training and facilitating the Mumbai attacks had nailed Pakistani lies and there was information that head of Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, had recently met the Mumbai masterminds and Lashkar-e-Taiba kingpins like Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi in prison.

“These revelations about the direct complicity of ISI and the Pakistani Navy in staging and facilitating Mumbai attacks appears to be the prime reason behind the suddenly intransigent behavior and belligerent stance of the Pakistan foreign minister during recent talks,” Rudy said.

He said it was evident that Pakistan was not inclined towards addressing Indian concerns on terrorism emanating from its soil and was only keeping up the pretense of taking action against Mumbai accused due to international pressure while working behind the scenes to ensure that no meaningful action was taken against them.

Rudy claimed that policy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government to link the talks with evidence of credible action and progress on dismantling of anti-India terror infrastructure in Pakistan had begun to pay dividends and had put the neighbouring country in a spot.