Chidambaram Asks Pak Friends US, UK to Persuade it to Close Terror Camps
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that Pakistan’s ‘friends’ like the US and the UK should convince it to destroy terrorist training camps operating in that country, said media reports.
Talking to BBC in an interview, the minister said that the civilian government in Pakistan had not taken measures to contain the ISI and compared terror group Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) with al-Qaida, said reports.
On an official visit to London, Chidambaram highlighted that things would be better ‘if there is a truly civilian government in Pakistan which can rein in the ISI and direct the army and the ISI to move in and dismantle their terror infrastructure’, reports said.
“The camps must be closed. Training must come to an end,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Replying to a query if he saw any movement in that direction in Pakistan, he was quoted as answering, “nothing so far.”
In response to another question as to what he believed would convince Pakistan to do that, he was quoted as saying, “the UK, the US know the answer to that question better. Certainly, we have not been able to persuade Pakistan. It is Pakistan’s friends, mutual friends, who would have to bring pressure on Pakistan.”
He also stressed that it would be “naïve” for Western countries to think that only India faced the threat from Pakistan-based terrorists.
“Once you allow these terror groups to train, recruit and be able to build capacity to strike, they can strike in India, they can strike in UK, they can strike in Denmark as they were planning out of the Karachi project,” he was quoted as saying.
“No country is truly safe….Don’t think that India alone is under threat. Every country is under threat from these groups and the Lashkar-e-Taiba today is like the al-Qaeda, a multi-country group.”
About his reading of Pune Blast, he was quoted as saying, “Pune was a case where it slipped through the cracks. Pune was a target. There was specific intelligence shared by the Central government with the Maharashtra police and the government. The area, Koregaon park was under a security cover.
“Three times advisory was given to German Bakery and its manager’s acknowledged the advisory on every single occasion but they did nothing. They did not even take the minimum security precautions. So, it is an unfortunate case that I would say slipped through the cracks.”
“As I said in Parliament, it’s a blot. But the lesson is that when there is intelligence, pointed intelligence and advisories are issued, people must cooperate. Shops, establishments, hotels, malls must take minimal security precautions.”
(Based on internet reports)
