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PM asks Iranian President to pressure Pakistan

New Delhi: As part of stepped-up diplomatic offensive to get Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday spoke to Iranian President Ahmadinejad and is understood to have asked him to pressure Islamabad to do more to end cross-border terrorism.

Dr. Singh conveyed to Mr. Ahmadinejad that Pakistan has to take concrete action to stop cross-border terror and being in denial mode would not help, sources said.

The Prime Minister is understood to have told the Iranian leader that India has so far exercised restraint and asked him to pressure Pakistan to take concrete action against the handlers of those who carried out the attacks last month, they said.

The telephonic conversation between Dr. Singh and Mr. Ahmadinejad came a day after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to his Iranian counterpart Manounchehr Mottaki on the issue.

Mr. Mukherjee had also spoken over phone to his counterparts in the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia and told them that India has “ample evidence” about involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the Mumbai strikes and that they should to put pressure on Islamabad to act against them.

During these conversations, Mr. Mukherjee emphasised that the Mumbai attacks should not be seen in the context of India-Pakistan relations but as part of global terrorism and other countries should join India in fighting this.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also spoke on Friday to his Chinese and Iranian counterparts. – PTI

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