SRINAGAR: Defence minister AK Antony on Tuesday sought to cool rising tempers in the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours by saying India was not planning any military action against Pakistan.
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, on the other hand, made a strong pitch for Islamabad to hand over Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and crack down on terrorist camps in Pakistan.
The twin message from New Delhi was: “we are not for war, but we want action.”
New Delhi is of the view that the Pakistani military is exaggerating the threat of war to divert attention from the recent Mumbai strikes, which, India believes, were planned and executed from Pakistani territory.
“We are not planning any military action, but unless Pakistan takes action against terrorists operating from their soil against India and also against all those who are behind the Mumbai terror attack, things will not be normal,” Antony said on Tuesday.
The defence minister was speaking at a function to mark the anniversary of the 1971 war with Pakistan.
Antony’s words were immediately picked up in Islamabad, where the presidential spokesman welcomed the announcement. “We welcome India’s assurance,” he said.
Mukherjee, who has been talking tough since the debate on terror in Parliament, said there were discrepancies in Islamabad’s position. “We hear he [Masood Azhar] is under house arrest. What is the difficulty then in handing him over to us? Anybody associated with hijacking a plane has committed an international crime,” he said.
Admitting a “pause” in the peace process, Mukherjee called on Pakistan to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorists.
