UN should ensure Pakistan ends terrorism, India says

UN FlagNew Delhi - India on Friday said the United Nations should ensure that Pakistan fulfils its commitment to end terrorism emanating from its soil as the UN chief was given evidence linking Pakistani nationals to the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he apprised the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday about the details of investigations into the November attacks which were carried out by elements based in Pakistan.

"I had detailed discussions [with Ban] in the context of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai and the material which we have given to Pakistan," Mukherjee told reporters on the margins of an economic conference in New Delhi.

"I requested the UN secretary general to look into those aspects and to ensure that Pakistan fully implements its own commitments which it has given to India and the international community several times," he added.

Ban was in New Delhi on Thursday on a day-long visit, primarily to attend an environment conference. He also met with Mukherjee and Sonia Gandhi, the chairwoman of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, later in the day.

During the discussions, Mukherjee told Ban how 10 militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group enterd Mumbai from Karachi in Pakistan via the sea on November 26 and unleashed terror in India's financial hub for three days.

At least 173 people including 26 foreign nationals and nine terrorists were killed during the attacks. One of the attackers was captured by the security forces.

New Delhi recently charged Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of links with those who planned and carried out the attacks.

Ban and Mukherjee also discussed international terrorism and regional issues like violence in Afghanistan and the situation in Myanmar.

Following his talks with Mukherjee, Ban said he had spoken to Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during his visit to Islamabad, where he urged full cooperation into the Mumbai probe.

Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours which have fought three wars over the disputed Kashmir region have deteriorated as Delhi accused Pakistan of not doing enough to bring those responsible to justice.

India has suspended a nearly five-year-old peace dialogue with Pakistan in the aftermath of the attacks.

"Two months after the Mumbai attacks, and one month after we presented a dossier of evidence linking the attacks to elements in Pakistan, we still await a response from the Pakistani authorities, and prevarication continues," India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said. (dpa)

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