Will walk extra mile if Pak acts against 26/11 attackers:India

Betwa Sharma

New York, Oct 16 (PTI) India is prepared to walk the
"extra mile" to normalise relations with Pakistan if it takes
action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks and
dismantles terrorism infrastructure, Minister of State for
External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said.

Tharoor, who is on a visit here, said India was not
interested in an environment of conflict and hostility with
its neighbour and asked Pakistan to step up efforts to
combat terrorism in a "holistic way".

"The action that is expected from Pakistan has to take
place before we can engage once again in the kind of
comprehensive dialogue process that we want," he told PTI
here.

"We are prepared to walk the extra mile but the first
step should come from them because what happened in Mumbai
came from their side," the former UN diplomat said.

He also recalled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
statement in July that India would meet Pakistan more than
half way if it took decisive action against terrorism.

Tharoor also said India is "certainly disappointed" on
the lack of progress in any action against JuD chief Hafiz
Mohammed Saeed and in the Mumbai attack case in Pakistan.

Based on the testimony given by Ajmal Kasab, the lone
terrorist captured alive during the 26/11 attacks, Tharoor
said India believes that Saaed had masterminded the strikes,
"given exaltation and operational guidance to the killers".
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