Pak must do more against Lashkar, other Punjab based 'India centric' terror groups: US

Washington, Apr.2 (ANI): The United States has said that the relationship between India and Pakistan had improved considerably before the November 2008 Mumbai attacksand it was now imperative that Islamabad should do more to improve ties with New Delhi by curbing the activities of the anti-India extremist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Interacting with reporters at the Foreign Press Centre here, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Robert Blake said: "I think one can argue there is a lot of important progress that has been made but we think there also needs to be progress against these Punjab-based groups,"

Blake was referring to banned militant groups such as the LeT, which carried out the 26/11 attacks, and the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which joined hands with the LeT to launch an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001.

Blake said he has already apprised Pakistan regarding India's concerns over the consistent cross border infiltration.

"I reminded them that from 2004 to 2007 both of those countries made quite important progress in their bilateral relations, and that progress was made possible in part by the significant efforts the government of Pakistan made at the time to stop cross-border infiltration," The Daily Times quoted Blake, as saying. (ANI)