ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, 19 December — Pakistan said yesterday India did not seem interested in a joint probe into last week’s assault on parliament as New Delhi accused Islamabad of trying to wipe out its political leadership. A charge Pakistan promptly denied. Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar proposed in an interview to state-run Pakistan television in Islamabad that India take the matter to the United Nations Security Council "for an impartial determination."
The Pakistani minister vowed, however, that his country "will not be intimidated" by India. He said India was hurling allegations at Pakistan "in order to defame the freedom struggle (in Kashmir) as terrorism."
Indian leaders, however, toned down their belligerence as Junior Foreign Minister Omar Abdullah ruled out an all-out war with Pakistan.
"Force, violence and war will never be a first option," Abdullah said, while at the same time warning that India would combat terrorism "by any means without fearing international isolation."
In Islamabad, spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf, Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi said: "We have been doing our best. We have conveyed (to India) that we are ready to cooperate and assist them in any joint inquiry. We have also said that if there is any evidence ... any individual or organization which is in Pakistan is involved, then we will take action against them. ...But the Indian government doesn’t seem to be interested at all."
The United States warned India yesterday that any response to what New Delhi says was a Pakistan-backed attack on its parliament last week must not further ignite tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
In a speech to parliament, Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani stopped well short of announcing retaliation against Pakistan. He said Pakistan was waging a campaign of "terrorism" against India.
Advani said the operation was clearly aimed at "wiping out the entire political leadership" of India because of Pakistan’s inability "to reconcile itself with the reality of a secular, democratic, self-confident and steadily progressing India."
Not convinced by Advani’s statement, opposition parties attacked the government for its failure to prevent the attack from taking place.
In a special discussion on Advani’s statement, in both the houses, the opposition slammed the government over the security lapse despite its being aware of militants’ intentions.
Asking the government to accept its mistakes, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lok Sabha, "We consider the attack as a grave challenge to the nation. We also consider it a shameful example of government’s failure."
In a meeting earlier yesterday with deputies from his Hindu-nationalist BJP party, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee vowed that "the punishment will be as big as the crime."
BJP legislators have been among the most vocal in their demand for an aggressive response from the government.
