NEW DELHI: Britain yesterday asked Pakistan to take on Laskhar-e-Taiba, the suspected architect of the Mumbai carnage, ‘frontally and politically’ but differed with India’s view on the complicity of Pakistani official agencies in the attacks.
Encouraged by “overwhelming international support”, India called for sustaining “concerted international pressure on Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage to justice” and hoped that Pakistan will hand over the “fugitives from Indian law.”
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, while addressing a joint press conference here with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, said: “We are absolutely clear about the origin of the terrorist attack, and the responsibility that exists in Pakistan to bring the perpetrators to justice.” Asking Pakistan to take action against the LeT, Miliband, however, rejected India’s accusation about the involvement of the Pakistani state in the Mumbai attacks.
“I have said publicly that I do not believe that the attacks were directed by the Pakistani state and I think it’s important to restate that,” Miliband said.
He was responding to a question on a recent statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the scale and sophistication of the attacks showed that official agencies of Pakistan were complicit in the Mumbai atrocity.
“The responsibility of the Pakistan side is something we expect them to fulfill. Those who have been arrested must be brought to justice and, if found guilty, need to be punished,” Miliband replied when asked about what action Pakistan needed to take in the aftermath of the Mumbai carnage, for which India has blamed Pakistan-based elements.
Miliband also called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and met Home Minister P. Chidambaram and discussed with them issues relating to the Mumbai attacks. Amid deepening tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Miliband, however, praised India for the “maturity,” “wisdom” and “determination” for responding diplomatically rather than militarily to the attacks.
Miliband and Mukherjee discussed a host of bilateral and global issues that included nuclear proliferation, reform of international financial institutions and the ongoing global economic crisis
