The statement comes at a time when the Pakistani political leadership including president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yusuf Gilani have asked India to resume the composite dialogue process.
India today questioned the seriousness of Pakistan in seeking resumption of dialogue, saying the neigbouring country has "inability or unwillingness" to prevent its soil from mounting attacks on other states.
"The inability or unwillingness of the Pakistani government to prevent its soil from being used to mount attacks on another state is a sad commentary that raises questions about whether it is at all serious about seeking a dialogue in order to improve relations with India," minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said here.
Tharoor said India will have "dialogue with Pakistan only if they fulfil their commitment, in letter and spirit, not to allow their territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India." He was delivering the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial lecture here.
The statement comes at a time when the Pakistani political leadership including president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Yusuf Gilani have asked India to resume the composite dialogue process between the two countries, which has been paused after the 26/11 attacks in 2008.
Tharoor said there was "no Indian threat to Pakistan on any grounds whatsoever" and it was committed to long-term peace with it. He said the "epicentre of terrorism" was located in India's neighbourhood and the terror issue needed to be dealt with purposively and with determination.
Apparently referring to Pakistan's attempts to strike peace deals with some sections of the Taliban militia in its North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP), the minister said, "There are no 'good terrorists', and those who strike Faustian bargains with such elements are often left to rue the consequences for their own countries."
He added that using terrorism as an instrument of state policy was a "short-sighted and self-destructive strategy as those elements that profess an ideology of hatred, intolerance and terror often bite the hand that feeds them.
Observing that Mumbai terror attacks was a great setback for India-Pakistan relations, Tharoor said: "It will take concerted and credible action by Pakistan on two fronts to set things right: action to bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice, and action to begin dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism."
He added that increase in ceasefire violations, continued infiltration across the Line of Control and attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul have also strained the relations between the two sides.
Tharoor said the "denials and evasive responses" from Pakistan on cooperation in Mumbai terror probe were also not helping the bilateral relations.
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