Suspend peace talks with Pakistan: Rajnath asks UPA

Chandigarh, Oct 1 (UNI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh today demanded that government to suspend peace talks with Pakistan till it stopped sponsoring cross-border terrorism.

Talking to reporters here, the BJP president said there was no relevance in pursuing peace talks with Pakistan as it failed to dismantle terrorist training camps on its soil.

Mr Singh called for a diplomatic offensive against Pakistan to persuade the UN Security Council to impose economic sanctions against that country and get it listed as a rogue state.

He also demanded that Pakistan intelligence agency ISI be put under International watchlist for sponsoring terrorism.

He said the probe in the July bomb blasts in Mumbai had once again proved that the ISI was masterminding terrorist attacks in India using its modules spread over different parts of the country and neighbouring nations like Bangladesh and Nepal.

Asked if India should take recourse to direct intervention to wipe out terrorist training camps, he said if Pakistan failed in dismantiling these camps Indian Parliament should take a decision with the consensus of all parties.

Mr Rajnath Singh said the government should summon the Pakistan High Commissioner in the wake of the ISI's role in Mumbai blasts and tell him that it would review the continuation of diplomatic ties with Islamabad if it did not stop cross-border terrorism soon. Criticising the UPA foreign policy with regard to Pakistan, he said the government's approach was ''fraught with confusion and shortsightedness.'' He said the recent Havana declaration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was a ''diplomatic farce'' as seen from the Indian persective.

''It's a classic example of the government's failure in formulating a a clear policy on terrorism.'' he said while while emphasising that Gen Musharraf had failed in keeping his promise made in January 2004 that he would not allow its territories to be used to promote terrorist activities.

''There is a disconnection between the internal security situation and foreign policy pursued by the Prime Minister in Havana, he added.

The UPA government, he said, should not ignore the clinching evidence provided by intellience agencies about the sustained anti-India operations carried out by the ISI and Pakistan.

''The ISI plays an active role in trafficking of drugs and arms, funding terrorist activities, creating sleeper modules and dumping fake currency in India through Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangladesh border,'' he said.

UNI