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Britain to talk to Pakistan on ending terrorism: Cameron

Other News Materials 29 July 2010 22:25 (UTC +04:00)
British Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday stuck to his comments about Pakistan's "export of terror" and said he would discuss with Islamabad the need to end the scourge emanating from that country
Britain to talk to Pakistan on ending terrorism: Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday stuck to his comments about Pakistan's "export of terror" and said he would discuss with Islamabad the need to end the scourge emanating from that country, dpa reported.

At a press conference in New Delhi after holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Cameron said he believed in speaking "clearly and plainly" about the "reality" of terrorism as shown in the attacks in Mumbai, London and the relentless strikes in Afghanistan.

"It is not acceptable, for there to be within Pakistan, the existence of terror groups that cause terrorism both within Pakistan and outside Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in India and elsewhere in our world," said Cameron in response to a question on Pakistani officials criticizing his recent comments.

"No one is in any doubt, least of all the Pakistan government itself, that there has been and still is in Pakistan terrorist organizations like (LeT) Lashkar-e-Taiba and others which need to be cracked down on and eliminated," he said.

Cameron said the Pakistan government needed to take further steps even as the international community would support Pakistan in fighting the LeT and the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban.

"Those are the key issues and I think the right way is to discuss these things frankly and openly and clearly," he said, adding "I look forward to having discussions next week including with the President of Pakistan".

Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari, is due to have talks with Cameron during a visit to Britain next week.

In a speech in the Indian city of Bangalore Wednesday, Cameron had warned against the "export of terror" from Pakistan which angered Islamabad.

The controversial remarks clearly overshadowed his visit to India as it dominated the press conference held after the bilateral summit in New Delhi.

"We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world," Cameron had said in Bangalore.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of not taking action against terrorist groups that operate against India from its territory.

The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 Mumbai carnage in which 166 people including 26 foreign nationals were killed.

New Delhi has also accused the Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) of involvement in Mumbai attack.

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