Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 16, 2001
Union home minister L. K. Advani
on Saturday said any American strategy to crush terrorism should take into
account Pakistan's active encouragement to the scourge in tandem with Afghanistan's
ruling Taliban, even as he hinted at wider Indo-U.S. interaction in intelligence
sharing.
"The security scenario in this part
of the world cannot disregard the fact that over the last decade or more,
the Taliban and Pakistan have been working in tandem to promote terrorism
and have openly given refuge and asylum to those who have been indulging
in terrorism," Mr Advani told the media during the 30th annual training
conference of the Border Security Force (BSF).
"Any strategy to counter terrorism
should take this factor into account," the home minister said. Osama bin
Laden, whom the U.S. government and people hold primarily responsible for
the terrorist strikes in New York and Washington, was a "hero" for terrorists
operating in India and many of the terrorists killed during the last decade
carried his - photographs, Mr Advani said.
Asked about his meeting with U.S.
ambassador to India Robert Blackwill on Friday evening, Mr Advani said,
"He was extremely grateful to India's offer of cooperation and he expressed
willingness to widen our interaction in the field of intelligence."
Earlier, addressing BSF officers,
he said though New York and Washington, where the terrorists struck on
September 11, might be far away, the South Asian region was going to be
the most affected in the coming days.
"What shape it will take finally,
I cannot say, but we have to face the challenge of the new scenario," Mr
Advani said. Terming terrorism as a "global challenge", the home minister
took a dig at Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf saying, "One man's terrorism
cannot be another's freedom struggle."
During the Indo-Pak summit at Agra,
Gen Musharraf had referred to terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir
as "freedom struggle".
The killing of innocent people in
itself was not terrorism as it happened during the World War II, he said,
adding, "Terrorism is deliberate killing, maiming and menacing of innocent
citizens to achieve political goals. It is a war in which you do not know
the enemy."
The NDA government, he said, had
been trying to mobilise world opinion against terrorism and the country's
efforts had been "reinforced" by the happenings of September 11 in a "manner
never imagined". (PTI)
