Shimla: War hysteria was not a creation of India and Pakistan needed to act against perpetrators of the terrorist attack on Mumbai instead of trying to deflect global attention by whipping up hype, stated Anand Sharma, minister of state for external affairs.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, Sharma said after passing of resolutions in the UN Security Council, international law demanded that those responsible for the killing of innocent people in Mumbai need to be brought to justice.
In the face of grave provocation, India has shown remarkable restraint, which should not be mistaken for weakness, he said. War hype was being created by Pakistan, he added.
Evidence against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack had been shared with the global community as well as Pakistan, which has remained in denial and brazen defiance of the global community. Our neighboring country needs to be pursued for demonstrative action, said Sharma.
He went onto add that terrorism should not be tagged with any religion for there was no cause that could justify it.
He said diplomatic initiatives were being taken to make Pakistan walk the talk. Responding to a question about India considering stopping trade and train service, the minister said that a lot of things were under active consideration.
Regarding the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline under the given security situation, Sharma responded that whole project would need to be reviewed.
He said that lessons from the security lapses had been learnt and the process of fixing accountability was underway.
The election in Jammu and Kashmir had demonstrated the faith that people have in democracy and the nascent democracy of Pakistan needed to learn from it, he said.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
@Ravinder..
War hysteria will always remain a hysteria!! Wars are not fought for pride or as a reaction. A war will always have a sure shot reason – mostly monetary/trade/strategic benefits. I am sure Indian diplomats are not so naive that they don’t understand the aftermaths of instability along India-Pakistan border. For the greater good it should always be avoided. And I am sure Pakistani democratic government is not at all capable of deciding anything at their own.
What do you think a nation with billions in debt, history of recent decade long military dictatorship, pro-islamic neighbor like afganistan can do. Its not capable of sustaining a war for even a week against India at its own. If war becomes a reality, allies will appear on both side. Because everyone wants to have their share of pie out of all the financing of ammunitions, weapons and other trade relationships that will arise henceforth.
We should promote a rather transparent picture to public suspecting everything – right from the fact that our politicians will even sacrifice a greater national interest to retain their power or developed countries like United States or our powerful neighbors like China will always benefit by disturbing the India-Pakistan relationship.
Bottomline – India Pakistan tension is equally created on both sides. At a higher level take yourself a little back in time. The problem was created 50 years ago. As one of the fantastic shots against future harmony. Friends, DEVIDE AND RULE IS STILL WORKING. may be people will understand when we grow 80 years old and read it as history.