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No Option But War With Pakistan
Say India's Prime Minister
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LUCKNOW (PNS) - In his harshest statement to date, Indian Extremist Hindu Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday warned that war would be the only option if Pakistan failed to take quick action. Pakistan has been asking for evidence which India has failed to present to anyone in the world.
 
Vajpayee, however, told reporters before leaving for Kathmandu, to attend a South Asian summit, that New Delhi did not favour a military showdown and that he had no plans of meeting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Nepal, reports IANS.
 
"We are not interested in war. We want this whole issue of terrorism to be resolved through diplomacy. But if we see that it doesn't work, then there is no option but war. Yet we would make every attempt to prevent war.
 
"So far we have not been communicated anything officially. Whatever we know is through newspapers and reports sent by the Indian high commission in Pakistan.
 
"India would like to know how many terrorists have been arrested by the Pakistani authorities, who are these people, what crimes are they being charged with.
 
"We would also want to know whether any of these arrested were in some way connected to the attack on Parliament and whether any of them were also thought to be involved in previous terrorist attacks in India.
 
"Further, Pakistan must spell out what future steps it proposes to take to bring an end to terrorism."
 
Vajpayee's comments - his most outspoken on the subject -- came amid growing border tensions between Pakistan and India, which has blamed Islamabad for the continuing acts of terrorism in India. New Delhi says the five terrorists who stormed the Indian Parliament December 13 and were killed were Pakistanis.
 
Vajpayee added: "From whatever has been done by Pakistan so far, it appears that Pakistan is still not ready to separate itself from terrorism."
 
Asked whether he would meet Musharraf if he made an offer to talk, he said: "This is a hypothetical question."
 
Vajpayee claimed international support for India's war against terrorism. "Almost every nation has condemned the attack on the Indian parliament and said this must stop."
 
He said the question of terrorism would be raised at the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) beginning in Kathmandu Friday that was earlier meant to discuss regional economic issues.
 
"But because each of the SAARC countries has been suffering due to terrorism, it will have to be a salient subject of discussion there."
 
Asked whether he would raise the question of Pakistan's role in perpetuating terrorism in India, he said: "There is no separate issue relating to any particular country. But there has to be a broader discussion on the issue.
 
"We have to see that the U.N. resolution on curbing terrorism is implemented in true letter and spirit."


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