The Hindu : National : Pakistan’s flip-flop is no surprise: BJP

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Pakistan’s flip-flop is no surprise: BJP

Neena Vyas

It is time to get tough with Islamabad

Sincerity of Pakistan on the issue of terrorism is on test
BJP demands ban on Jamaat-ul-Dawa

NEW DELHI: Given Pakistan’s record of double-talk, its U-turn, on sending its Inter-Services Intelligence chief to India on the request of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is not at all surprising, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Saturday.

It was time to get tough with Pakistan, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said. India should put all pressure it could mount to ensure that Islamabad stood by its commitment, not to allow its territory to be used for launching attacks against India, made in the joint India-Pakistan statement in January 2004.

Mr. Prasad said preliminary evidence gathered on the recent Mumbai attacks seemed to point a finger at Pakistan. Our neighbour must prove its earnestness in cooperating to curb and stamp out terror”, and it could begin by handing over underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Even at the time of the Agra Summit, the then Home Minister L.K. Advani, had taken up the Dawood issue with the then President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. At an election rally in Rajasthan on Friday, Mr. Advani again raised issue, suggesting that Pakistan hand over Dawood to India for trial.

The latest terrorist attack on Mumbai, which has left nearly 200 people dead, gave Pakistan one more opportunity to show that it did want to cooperate in checking terrorism, Mr. Prasad said.

“The sincerity of Pakistan on the issue of terrorism is on test.”

He said Pakistan was in the habit of erasing and denying linkages with any act of terror.

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