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`Military option if diplomacy fails'
NEW YORK, JAN. 3. India would like to wait for the outcome of various diplomatic efforts to make Pakistan take action against the terrorist groups which were behind the attack on Parliament, but would not rule out the military option if this failed, the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, has said.
India would wait to see whether various diplomatic initiatives succeeded in getting Pakistan to take effective action against the groups which mounted a suicidal assault on Parliament, the New York Times quoted him as saying on Wednesday.
``If they should fail, then we are left with only the option that the United States exercised to deal with terrorism,'' he said. Asked if he meant the military option, Mr. Fernandes said, ``That's right''. ``If we are pushed, we'll have to take on the war against terrorism all by ourselves.''
Replying to questions, he said Pakistan's possession of a nuclear arsenal would not deter India from taking military action.
``I can't believe they would ever use it for the simple reason that they would be inviting a second strike,'' he said. ``That could be devastating given Pakistan's size.'' India, the paper quoted him as saying, did have contingency plans for various military actions against Pakistan. If diplomacy failed, ``there will be options, but once you speak about them then they don't remain options.''
Mr. Fernandes said the steps Pakistan had taken so far to crack down on Islamic militant groups indulging in terrorism in Kashmir were ``illusory and have done nothing to reduce the level of terrorist violence.''
- PTI
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