New Delhi: India on Saturday asked Pakistan to be
"sincere" in acting against terror groups on its soil in its
own interest and "not to satisfy India".
Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters here on the
sidelines of an international flight safety conference that
Pakistan "has to contain" terrorists operating from its soil.
"India is telling always that unless they (Pakistanis)
act sincerely (against terrorists) there is no solution. Still
they are not sincere. That is the problem," Antony said.
The Defence Minister was reacting to reporters` queries
on the suspected role of Pakistan`s intelligence agency ISI in
the terror attack on Indian Embassy in Afghanistan`s capital
Kabul a couple of days ago.
India, he said, had already taken up the matter
"seriously" through the normal channels.
On today`s terror attack on Pakistan Army headquarters in
Rawalpindi, Antony said: "This again shows that Pakistan
should take determined and strong action against terrorists."
He said, "It is not to satisfy India, but it is in their
own interest. They (Pakistanis) have to contain and take
strong action against terrorists operating from their
country."
Asked about his coming Russia visit, Antony said the
purpose was to expand the scope of defence cooperation between
the two countries.
"Russia has been a trusted friend of India over the
years. In 1998, we signed an agreement India-Russia
Inter-Governmental Commission for for Military Technical
Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) for 10 years. The Commission is
co-chaired by both Indian and Russian Defence Ministers. Last
year the meeting took place in Russia. This time I am going to
Russia for the meeting," he said.
The two nations would discuss a wide range of defence
cooperation issues, he said adding, the focus would be on
extending the IRIGC-MTC agreement by another 10 years from
2011 to 2020.
To a query on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier
price negotiations, Antony said talks were going on and the
negotiations were yet to be concluded.
Bureau Report
