No country should provide shelter to terrorists: PM Modi on Lakhvi's release

Paris: On a day Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was released, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday gave a veiled message to Pakistan, saying no country should provide shelter to terrorists but should punish them.

"There is a need for global action to deal with terrorism. All nations should commit that they will not provide shelter to terrorists but punish them," Modi said at a joint press interaction with French President Francois Hollande after their talks here.

Hollande said he understands anger in India over the release of a person who is responsible for such a reprehensible act, a reference to Lakhvi who was behind the attack in Mumbai in November 2008 that claimed 166 lives.

Modi and Hollande discussed the issue of terrorism in the context of recent attack in Paris and release of Lakhvi and decided to intensify cooperation against the menace.

"The world is facing many challenges. There is an upheaval in the world and all are affected...Terror is spreading in new forms in various countries," the Prime Minister said.

France suffered in Paris when terrorists struck here in January and understands India's "pain" over terrorism, he said.

"A delay of three months like this is not normal," a well-informed source in Rome told AFP.

"The reply normally doesn`t take more than a month, a month and a half," this source added.

If there is a refusal, "the Vatican doesn`t reply, doesn`t offer an explanation and it`s up to the country concerned to interpret this lack of a reply."In 2007, France proposed a gay diplomat to be its ambassador at the Vatican. Paris never received a reply, and it eventually put forward another nominee.

But unlike the 2007 candidate, Stefanini is single and is very discreet about his personal life.

From 2001 to 2005, he served as the number two at the French embassy in the Vatican.

"A practising Catholic, very cultivated, of absolute discretion," said Italian daily Il Messagero.

Italy`s La Stampa daily`s Vatican Insider blog said Stefanini`s position on gay marriage -- not his sexual orientation -- may be the problem in getting the Vatican`s green light.

Gay marriage has been legal in France since 2013, despite the Catholic Church`s opposition.

Francis, the first pope to hail from Latin America, is widely regarded as having been a huge success in his two years at the helm of the Church.

His charm, decisive approach to issues such as paedophile priests and his pleas for a more merciful and worldly approach on questions such as homosexuality and divorce have endeared him to a much broader public than his more conservative predecessor Benedict XVI could reach.

But the delay over Stefanini`s nomination has opened the Vatican up to a slew of criticism.

"Homosexual people are rejected in the Vatican, despite their merits (and) indisputable qualities," said Flavio Romani, who heads the Italian gay rights group Arcigay.

Accusing the Holy See of failing to implement its "teachings of openness", he blasted the Vatican as acting "like Uganda", where gay people are heavily persecuted.

"The facts speak for themselves: the senior prelates have shown their true face," Romani said.

"They agreed that India and France must intensify their

cooperation within the framework of JWG on Counter-Terrorism, including on information and intelligence sharing on terror networks and work together to share experiences on dealing with the growing phenomenon of radicalisation," a joint statement said after Modi and Hollande held wide-ranging talks.

"They asked officials on both sides to schedule the next meeting of the JWG on Counter-Terrorism at the earliest," it said.

The two countries also agreed to commence bilateral dialogue to discuss ways and means of enhancing their cooperation in the maritime domain, in particular in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

"India welcomes closer engagement of France in the affairs of the Indian Ocean Rim Association and will continue to work closely with France in realisation of the objectives enshrined in the Charter of the Association," the statement said.

"The two leaders noted with satisfaction the holding of second round of the Cyber Dialogue on 17 March 2015 in New Delhi, which outlined new areas of cooperation between France and India in the field of cyber security," it said.