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Freezing Lashkar accounts is not enough: India

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The government said on Saturday that Pakistan's freeze on the bank accounts of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the terrorist group believed to have been involved in the December 13 attack on Parliament, should not be a smokescreen to extend support to ultras masquerading as freedom fighters.

"Pakistan can only convince the international community about its sincerity to fight global terrorism in letter and spirit by disbanding various terrorist organisations based there. Freezing the financial assets is only a tiny step," a senior external affairs ministry official said.

"Pakistan cannot seek shelter under the guise of a freedom struggle in Kashmir," he said. "If the US has acknowledged that the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed operate from Pakistan, it is because we have provided evidence that cannot be denied."

Expressing satisfaction that the US had taken cognisance of what India had been saying all along about terrorist outfits operating from Pakistan, he pointed out that the government was now determined to root out terrorist on its own.

Responding to state department spokesman Richard Boucher's contention that evidence provided by the Indian government would help Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to fight the LeT, JeM and other jihadi outfits based in his country, he said, "Words have to be followed by transparent deeds. Mere pronouncements by the general will not be enough."

The official was, however, unwilling to comment on Pakistan's decision not to recall its high commissioner for India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, in retaliation to India's move to recall Vijay Nambiar from Islamabad.

Asked about the frequent visits by leaders of the separatist All-Parties Hurriyat Conference to the Pakistani high commission, the official said it would not be as smooth as before. He did not elaborate.

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