Last straw

The attack on India's parliament building stretched India's patience to breaking point, India's chargés d'affaires in Cairo told Gamal Nkrumah
The Indian government is under domestic pressure to wage war on Pakistan. But western powers and particularly the US want India to refrain from sabre-rattling. Do you think that your government will be forced to act against Pakistan or will India bow to US pressure?
As far as our fight against terrorism is concerned, and given the well- documented historical support by Pakistan of terrorist groups, there is no difference between India's position and that of the United States. Washington knows that Pakistan had to be pushed hard in order to act. US President George Bush called Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee this week to assure him that he's putting pressure on Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf. Our interest is to make sure that we are not targets of terrorism any more. We should be allowed to live in peace. Our national interests and security cannot be compromised. Pakistan must take action to stop terrorists waging war on India from Pakistani soil. Cross-border terrorism must end.
War is not the preferred option for India, but India will not hesitate to protect its national interests. The Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpaye has said, "India does not want war but war is being thrust on the country."
The 13 December attacks against the Indian Parliament were not the first terrorist attacks perpetrated against India by elements in Pakistan. Attacks were also carried out against the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on 1 October. The 13 December attacks were calculated to liquidate the Indian leadership at the highest level and paralyse the government. It was a direct attack against our sovereignty.
India has resorted to diplomatic measures as a first course of action so that the international community is made fully aware of where India stands on an issue of paramount concern to it -- the issue of terrorism, particularly when it begins to strike at the roots of democracy in India. Recalling the Indian High Commissioner from Pakistan was meant to send a strong signal of displeasure to Pakistan. So far Pakistan has not taken adequate action and not responded with sufficient measures.
India does not believe in rhetoric or sabre-ratting. We have full confidence in our capabilities and we are resolved to take all necessary measures to ensure that Pakistan now acts with full sincerity and takes credible steps to dismantle the terrorist organisations acting from Pakistan and stop cross-border terrorism.
Is the designation by Washington of two militant Pakistani Islamist groups enough, or is a tougher stance on Islamabad necessary at this moment?
India welcomed the US's decision to designate Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) as a terrorist organisation and India believed that it was a step forward.
From the Indian perspective, how best can the US go about convincing Pakistan to clamp down on its own militant Islamists, including the Kashmiri groups?
Pakistan should have taken meaningful action against the LeT and initiated substantive steps to arrest the leadership of this organisation, freeze its assets and prevent any future activity directed by this group against India. Such actions are in any case required to be taken by all governments against terrorist organisations in their countries in accordance with the Security Council Resolution 1317.
So far Pakistan has not taken adequate actions and has not responded in sufficient measure. As the minister of external affairs said, it is regrettable that attempts to duple the international community with cosmetic half measures, non-measures, or even fictitious incidents are still being made.
Will India back down and agree to US mediation in its conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir?
The government of India has repeatedly expressed its view that all differences between India and Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, must be settled peacefully through direct negotiations between the two countries in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Simla agreement and the Lahore declaration. However, for the dialogue to begin again the government of Pakistan must take credible, firm, substantive and visible action against the terrorist groups operating from its soil and the territories it controls today into Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. Until that happens, the government of India will maintain a state of heightened vigilance on the Line of Control and the international border as well as keeping in place the other measures which have been taken over the past few days.
Are the militant Islamist groups within India itself responsible for the attack on the Parliament building? What proof does New Delhi have of the involvement of Pakistani-backed groups?
There has been accumulated evidence of the involvement of Pakistan-backed militant groups like JeM and LeT not only in the attack on parliament on 13 December, but in previous incidents as well. The most flagrant such action was the Jaish-e- Muhammad (JeM) hijack of an Indian Airlines flight, its subsequent bombing, earlier this year, of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and the LeT's attack on the Red Fort, the famous Delhi landmark last year. The suicide bombers' affiliation to these organisations proves their involvement in the attack. As has been reported in the news the cellular phone received from the suicide bomber and the calls made to Karachi as well as the markings on the weapons received from the site of the attack all point to their links to organisations across the border. Thus, there is an accumulated body of evidence that points to the involvement of these groups.
It has been well established that terrorist groups in Kashmir have received arms, training and financial support from Pakistan. Besides it is well known that foreign mercenaries have been actively involved in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. All these facts have also been documented by the US authorities. In fact, LeT and JeM have been listed as terrorist organisations in a report by the US State Department in 2000. Recent news reports talk about LeT moving to Kashmir and the mercenaries being pushed to Kashmir from Afghanistan to carry out new operations in India, under instructions from their bosses in Pakistan.
What form of political cooperation does India expect from friendly Arab countries in its fight against terrorism?
Friendly Arab countries can urge Pakistan to take action against the terrorist groups operating against India from Pakistani territory and to arrest, bring to justice and severely punish their leaders as well as curtailing their financing. Pakistan must stop all forms of cross-border terrorism.
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