US, India ask Pakistan to crackdown on terror

NEW DELHI - The US Tuesday urged Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not at all used as "launching pad" by militants for terror attacks and reiterated New Delhi's call to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre, including its alleged mastermind Hafiz Saeed, to justice.

"Combating violent extremism is something we all agree on. Pakistan should do more in ensuring that territory is not used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks anywhere, including inside of Pakistan," said visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"The unfortunate thing is the attacks have taken the lives of 30,000 Pakistanis," Secretary Clinton said at a joint press conference after talks with Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in New Delhi, capital of India.

Both Secretary Clinton and Krishna asked Pakistan to take steps to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which more than 170 people, including six Americans, were killed.

Saeed, the founder of Pakistan-based banned outfit Lashker-e- Taiba, has been named as the chief architect of the Mumbai massacre, carried out by 10 Pakistani militants who entered the country through sea-route.

"Recent attacks in Kabul highlight once again the need for elimination of terrorist sanctuaries in the neighborhood and the need for stronger action from Pakistan on terrorism, including on bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack. We also discussed our respective relations with Pakistan," Krishna said.

On Tehran's nuclear program, Secretary Clinton said that the US hopes to see continuing progress in India reducing oil imports from Iran.

"We look to India as partner in broad international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. We need to stay united and to keep pressure on Iran -- it has brought Iran back to the negotiating table. We welcome the progress India is making to reduce oil purchased from Iran," Clinton said.

To this, Krishna responded: "India subscribes to and regularly implements United Nations Security Council resolutions. This issue is not a source of discord between our two countries."

Iran is India's second-largest crude oil supplier. New Delhi had earlier rejected Western sanctions to stop oil imports from Iran.

Krishna said both Secretary Clinton and he were satisfactory with the progress in the relationship between the two countries and were optimistic about the future.

On the Indo-US nuclear deal, Krishna said he has assured Clinton of India's commitment to provide a level playing field to all US companies, within the framework of its national law and international legal obligations.

"We were pleased that US companies are engaged in substantive discussions with the Indian operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. We hope that they will make early progress towards contractual steps," he said.

Secretary Clinton's is on the last leg of her three-day tour of India. On Monday, she met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national capital after meeting the eastern state of West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in state capital Kolkata where she arrived on Sunday from Bangladesh.