By IANS,
New Delhi: Sharing India’s concerns over cross-border terror, Britain Friday asked Pakistan “to do more” to tackle the Lashkar-e-Taiba network operating along its border with India and crack down on the Taliban militants on its Afghan frontier.
“We also believe there is more to be done in tackling the problem of Afghan Taliban in the west of Pakistan and also in tackling the LeT networks in the east of the country,” British High Commissioner to India Richard Stagg told reporters here.
“No, there has not been enough action. Our strongly-held belief is that the government of Pakistan needs to take action against a range of groups involved in violence or insurgency,” he replied when asked whether Pakistan has done enough to address the issue of safe havens for terrorists operating from its border areas.
Underlining that the LeT terror networks were linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the envoy stressed that the LeT was a threat to the world community as it aspired to be a global organisation.
He also appeared to share India’s contention that Pakistan has focused on militants targeting the Pakistani state rather than taking on other terrorists affecting the region.
Pakistan has focused on those elements which are directly threatening the Pakistani state. They need to address other sources of terror, he said.
Admitting that Pakistan had made “significant progress” last year in tackling insurgency in the Swat valley and South Waziristan, Stagg said that “Pakistan also needs to address other sources of instability and violence”.
Ahead of the London conference on Afghanistan next week, Stagg lauded India’s reconstruction efforts in that country and said the world could learn “some lessons” from New Delhi’s approach to the strife-torn country.
“India’s approach is probably what the rest of the world needs. We could learn some lessons from India,” the British envoy said here while outlining the agenda of the London conference set for Jan 28.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will represent India at the London conference on Afghanistan, which is co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
India has pledged $1.3 billion for a wide array of reconstruction activities ranging from education to building roads, bridges, power stations to digging tubewells, and grassroot development projects.