By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday urged Pakistan not to whip up war hysteria in response to Indian requests to take action against terrorists who attacked Mumbai.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Mukherjee said that Pakistan needed to focus its energies “to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack”.
“My request to friends in Pakistan would be (that) instead of diverting attention from the real issue, they should concentrate on how to fight against terrorists and how to bring to book the pepetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack.
“We have indicated to them that there are ample evidences from the log book of the captured ship (that terrorists used to sail to Mumbai), from the statellite phone (they used) … that elements from Pakistan were responsible (for the Mumbai savagery),” he said. “Instead of … war hysteria, they should address this menace.”
Mukherjee mentioned that he had also held discussions on telephone in recent days with the foreign ministers of Iran and China besides US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“I had a very good meeting with the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. He endorsed what I said earlier that terrorism is a global phenomenon and the terror attack on Mumbai need not be (weaved) into the Indo-Pakistan relationship. It is part of the global (terrorism). He also expressed his total condemnation of all sorts of terrorist activites.”