Pak doing nothing to curb terrorism: Krishna
14 Jun 2012
Foreign minister S M Krishna said today the evil genius behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks is still using Pakistan as a base for a ''hate India campaign''.
The peace process between the South Asian rival nations would continue but Pakistan has to help ''checkmate'' terrorist groups for relations to be normalised, Krishna told AP at the end of the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue.
Krishna, scheduled to visit Pakistan next month, said India has only to look an Pakistani television to see that militant leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the mastermind behind the 26/11 attacks, remains free and continues his virulent campaign unchecked.
''Assurances have been given to India by the leadership of Pakistan that Pakistani territory is not going to be used for anti-India activities,'' Krishna said. ''But we know for a fact and have evidence and we can see it on TV that the brains behind the Mumbai attack, led by Hafiz Saeed, go scot-free in Pakistan, still carrying on a hate India campaign,'' he said.
''This does not connect very well with a nation's intentions if it seeks to extend the hand of friendship to normalise relations.''
The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group founded by Seeed is blamed for the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, the worst among many terror attacks suffered by India.
Pakistan has resisted Indian demands to do more against Saeed, saying there isn't sufficient evidence. He was kept under house arrest for several months after the attacks but authorities released him after he challenged his detention in court.
In April, the US put a $10 million bounty on Saeed. Days later, he held a provocative news conference, close to Pakistan's military headquarters, saying the United States should give the reward to him, as it could contact him directly.