Pakistan must act, hand over fugitives: Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi, Dec 11: Pranab Mukherjee, India's External Affairs Minister said that the people who controlled and planned the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks are in Pakistan, but expressed that a war on Pakistan is not a solution. Pranab said, "Islamabad should act against them. Mere expression of intent is not adequate."

Pranab Mukherjee who was talking in the Lok Sabha, raised questions over Pakistan's sincerity in curbing terrorism and such terror outfits functioning there. He said that the 'house arrest' of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar was not enough.

Intervening in the debate in Lok Sabha on Mumbai attacks, he said India has repeatedly given a list of 40 terrorists including Dawood Ibrahim to Pakistan, with a demand that they be handed over, and expressed hope that Islamabad would respond positively.

Regarding Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's comment that Mumbai terror attackers are 'non-state actors', he said "Did the non-state actors come from heaven, did the non-state actors come from another planet?" Mukherjee also slammed Pakistan for creating a war 'hysteria' by indulging in 'propaganda' on the basis of a hoax call that 'big power' India was going to attack.

When Shiv Sena member Mohan Rawale said that India should attack Pakistan in the wake of the terror strikes, Pranab said 'war is not a solution.'

Pranab also 'expressed regret' to the 13 nations whose citizens were amongst those killed on 26/11 attacks. He said, "we could not protect them. I sincerely apologise. Most of the nations realised it is not our fault. Terrorism has a dimension which is not confined to territorial boundary of any state. It has become a cross-border and international phenomenon," Pranab added.

Out of the 179 people killed in Mumbai, 26 were foreigners, including people from Italy, Israel, Britain, Japan, United States, Germany.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)