British Premier David Cameron ended his India visit just the way he began: on a candid note. He told Pakistan “clearly and plainly” that it needs to crack down on and eliminate terrorist groups which target not just India but also Afghanistan, the streets of London and elsewhere — in remarks that brought home the extent of the threat
posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan today. He said he can be expected to discuss the issue “frankly, clearly and openly” with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari when the latter visits London next week.
“Terrorism cannot be right,” Mr Cameron said here on Thursday at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He echoed Dr Singh’s sentiments when he said Pakistan needs to take further steps to root out terrorism, and he voiced his government’s resolve to do all it can to work with the Pakistan government to encourage it to crack down on terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT), the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban, and the Quetta Shura.
The British Premier said the world had seen the reality of terrorism in Mumbai, in the streets of London and in Afghanistan. “No one is in any doubt, least of all the Pakistani government themselves, that there has been and still are terrorist organisations like the LeT and others that need to be cracked down on and eliminated,” Mr Cameron said, amplifying his remarks made in Bengaluru on Wednesday when he ticked off Islamabad by accusing it of promoting the “export of terror” in Afghanistan and around the world.
Prime Minister Singh said there was agreement between them that today terrorism constitutes the single biggest threat to the region and to open and pluralistic societies like India and the UK. “We have agreed to further intensify our cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism,” he said, adding further that “there is complete agreement [between us] that no cause is good enough to justify resort to terrorism”. He hoped the international community will use its good offices to promote this cause. Prime Minister Singh hoped the Pakistan government will honour its commitment given on many occasions to him and to his predecessors that its territory will not be used for anti-India terrorist activities. Pakistan, he asserted, should be as serious in combating terrorism on its eastern border with India as it claims it is on its western border with Afghanistan.
Both leaders reviewed the regional security situation and developments in Afghanistan, besides agreeing to a slew of measures to revitalise the India-UK special relationship. On the occasion, both sides signed the India-UK MoU on cultural co-operation. They agreed to establish an India-UK CEOs Forum and an India-UK Infrastructure Group, and also agreed to launch a new phase of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative for a further five years, from 2011 to 2015. The UK said it will press the European Union for the conclusion of a broad-based trade and investment agreement between India and the EU by the end of 2010. Earlier, in his opening statement at the press conference, Prime Minister Singh praised Mr Cameron for his bold vision for a safer world. “We share the same vision for a renewed and enhanced partnership between our countries,” he said.