India on Saturday asked Pakistan to be “sincere” in acting against terror groups on its soil in its own interest and “not to satisfy India“.
Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters here on the sidelines of an international flight safety conference that Pakistan “has to contain” terrorists operating from its soil.
“India is telling always that unless they (Pakistanis) act sincerely (against terrorists) there is no solution. Still they are not sincere. That is the problem,” Mr. Antony said.
The Defence Minister was reacting to reporters’ queries on the suspected role of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in the terror attack on Indian Embassy in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul a couple of days ago.
India, he said, had already taken up the matter “seriously” through the normal channels.
On Saturday’s terror attack on Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi, Mr. Antony said: “This again shows that Pakistan should take determined and strong action against terrorists.”
He said, “It is not to satisfy India, but it is in their interest. They (Pakistanis) have to contain and take strong action against terrorists operating from their country.”
Asked about his coming Russia visit, Antony said the purpose was to expand the scope of defence cooperation between the two countries.
"Russia has been a trusted friend of India over the years. In 1998, we signed an agreement India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) for 10 years. The Commission is co-chaired by both Indian and Russian Defence Ministers. Last year the meeting took place in Russia. This time I am going to Russia for the meeting," he said.
The two nations would discuss a wide range of defence cooperation issues, he said adding, and the focus would be on extending the IRIGC-MTC agreement by another 10 years from 2011 to 2020.
To a query on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier price negotiations, Antony said talks were going on and the negotiations were yet to be concluded.
