By IANS,
New Delhi : Pakistan should completely dismantle terrorist outfits operating out of its soil and it was not enough for it to admit that the Mumbai strike was planned there, political parties in India said Thursday.
Islamabad admitted for the first time that “a part of the conspiracy” related to the Mumbai terror attacks was planned on its soil and that it had arrested six suspects.
The Congress said Pakistan’s admission was a result of the Indian government’s efforts and Islamabad must now go a step further.
“Islamabad must destroy the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil and hand over those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks along with those 40 people whose list was given by India. Mere admission will not do,” Shakeel Ahmad, Congress spokesperson and minister of state for home affairs, told IANS.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik at a press conference in Islamabad, admitted: “A part of the conspiracy has been done in Pakistan.” He added that a first information report (FIR) was registered in Islamabad Thursday.
However, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Pakistan should have made the admission earlier.
“International pressure, especially by the US, has made Pakistan accept the fact that the Mumbai atrocity was planned there. Now, Islamabad has been exposed and it should act and dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism,” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
The Communist of Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the largest left party in India, said that Thursday’s developments were in a positive direction.
“It is a move in a positive direction. We have been saying that diplomatic pressure will compel Pakistan to admit their role in the Mumbai strike and war will not help defeat terror,” Mohammad Salim, deputy leader of the CPI-M in the Lok Sabha, said.
“All the peace loving South Asian nations should fight terrorism unitedly,” he added.