Pak `epicentre of terrorism`, says Indian PM

London, Apr 1 (PTI) Calling Pakistan the "epicentre of
terrorism", Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the
world community "has to come to grips with this harsh reality"
and slammed Islamabad for failing to take "effective action"
to curb the menace.

Ahead of his maiden meeting with US President Barack
Obama Thursday, Singh said the world has a responsibility that
Pakistan lives up to the promise that it will not allow its
territory to be used to promote acts of terrorism directed
against India.

He said not taking any action against the perpetrators
of the Mumbai attacks is a "living proof" that Pakistan is not
taking effective action to control terrorrism.

"That is living proof that despite many promises made
by Pakistan since 2004 to my predecessor and to me that
Pakistan will not be allowed to be used to undertake acts of
terror against India, in practice no effective action has been
taken to control terror," Singh told 'Financial Times' in an
interview, ahead of his visit here to attend the G-20 summit.

"We all know the epicentre of terrorism in the world
today is Pakistan. The world community has to come to grips
with this harsh reality," said the Prime Minister, who arrived
here Tuesday.

He said the 26/11 attacks were planned and acted upon
in Pakistani territory is now admitted by everybody, including
the intelligence agencies of developed countries.

Asked why Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed
for the Mumbai attacks, has been able to bounce back so
quickly, Singh said: "It is because the promises that the
government of Pakistan have made to control terrorism and all
its instrumentalities, they are either not able to control
them or they are not willing to control them."

The Prime Minister said India and US would like both
Afghanistan and Pakistan to be free from the hold of terrorist
elements.

Asked how did he assess the chances of success for
Obama's just-released AfPak strategy, he said: "I have not
studied the Obama plan. We are victims of terrorism and we
hope that whatever the world community plans to do they will
pay adequate attention that terrorism ceases to be a problem
in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan."

Singh said it has been India's experience in the past
that there are elements in the armed forces of Pakistan, some
segments of the ISI involved in perpetrating acts of terror,
particularly the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

"We have been told that the ISI in Pakistan has a
different mindset. I hope that is right," he said.

Asked why Pakistan has not been able to tackle
terrorism, Singh said: "I'm not an expert on how Pakistan is
being run. But the proof of pudding is in the eating. That the
attacks on Mumbai were planned and acted upon in Pakistani
territory is now admitted by everybody. PTI