India and Britain believe that the setback suffered by al-Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death offers an "opportunity" to Pakistan to step up its campaign against terrorism.
The issue came up during discussions between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and the British Foreign Secretary William Hague here on Thursday.
The two leaders agreed that the killing of bin Laden was a good moment for Pakistan to "roll up’’ the terror cells on its soil. They also pledged to expand mutual cooperation between their own countries in leading the fight against terrorism.
ADVERTISEMENT
India was assured that Britain would continue to put pressure on Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.
According to sources, Mr Hague told Mr Krishna that during his recent visit to Pakistan he emphasised the need for the Pakistani Government to “enhance” action against terror groups. Islamabad was also urged to be more “positive” in its approach to restoring stability in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Indian High Commission said the two foreign ministers had wide-ranging discussions covering the entire gamut of India-UK bilateral relations and other matters of mutual interest.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They also reviewed progress made in developing the ‘enhanced partnership’ since the visit of Prime Minister Cameron to India last year and identified ways to further develop closer and stronger partnership,” it said.
Renewing invitation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Britain, Mr Hague said his government looked forward to an early visit.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao secured assurance of British support for India's bid for full membership of the four multilateral export control regimes -- the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Group.