It's time to restrain Pak., PM tells Bush

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, OCT. 2. Citing Monday's suicide attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has written to the United States President, Mr. George Bush, bringing to his attention the need to urgently restrain Pakistan from backing international terrorists in Kashmir.

India, according to the Prime Minister, can simply not ignore the terrorist acts which threaten the nation's security. ``Incidents of this kind raise questions for our security which, as a democratically elected leader of India, I have to address in our supreme national interest.'' Pointing to the urgency of holding back Islamabad, he said ``Pakistan must understand that there is a limit to the patience of the people of India.''

India's diplomatic offensive, aimed at ensuring that Kashmir is included in the global campaign against terrorism follows the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Monday night, which took place after the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. It comes at a time when the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, is in the U.S. and in the wake of his meetings with the U.S. National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and Mr. Bush himself.

PTI, UNI report:

In the letter, sent hours after the car bomb attack, Mr. Vajpayee said, ``I write this with anguish at the most recent terrorist attack in our State of Jammu and Kashmir... A Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammad, has claimed responsibility for the dastardly act and named the Pakistani national, based in Pakistan, as one of the suicide bombers involved.''

In a pointed reference to Islamabad's double-speak, he said ``there has been understandable anger in the country at this wanton act of violence. Ironically, it comes a day after the President of Pakistan announced on television that Pakistan has no terrorist groups operating from its territory.''

Mr. Vajpayee said in his letter that he had asked Mr. Jaswant Singh to convey India's sentiments to the U.S. ``Mr. President, the world is still coming to terms with the horrendous events of September 11. India joined wholeheartedly with the United States in its goal for the destruction and defeat of the global terror network which you eloquently announced in your address to the Congress. With you, we condemned any nation that continues to harbour or support terrorism.''

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