Stop talking, get cracking: Pranab

KOLKATA: Pranab Mukherjee once again cautioned Pakistan on Sunday to stop meaningless terror talk and instead, concentrate on taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai mayhem. The external affairs minister, however, ruled out war.

At an interactive session with members of Bengal Chamber of Commerce here, Mukherjee said India could not enter Pakistan’s territory and nail terrorists.

Referring to Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari’s statement that the Mumbai attackers were “non-state actors”, he said, “We cannot really chase the so-called non-sate actors in anyone else’s territory.” Charging Pakistan with issuing a stream of contradictory statements, Mukherjee said India had shared enough evidence with the neighbour on how its territory was being used by anti-India forces. “Not once or twice, we have provided evidence on at least 10 occasions,” he said.

“It is high time Pakistan take action. Mere talk is not enough. Pakistan must cooperate with us and take concrete action.”

Mukherjee said Pakistan’s sincerity in cooperating with India in its fight against terrorism could be believed only if it handed over Indian anti-nationals settled in that country. 

“There are fugitives of Indian origin who have taken shelter in Pakistan. If Pakistan wants to cooperate, these should be handed over to us,” he said.

“At the same time,” the minister said, “some Pakistani nationals are involved in anti-India activities and our demand is they should also be handed over for interrogation.”