Pakistan's action against terror an eyewash, claims India

Terming Pakistan's action against terrorism as an 'eyewash', India on Monday said the civilian government there was 'not strong enough' to act against terror on its own.

"What they are doing right now is not enough. It looks like an eyewash. I think the civilian power centre in Pakistan is not strong enough to act on its own. We are not confident and happy over the steps taken so far," Union Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters.

Raju did not agree that Pakistan was cracking under international pressure on India's demand for taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, saying, "Unfortunately in Pakistan, there are multiple power centres to crack down and unfortunately the civilian government is not one of the more powerful centres."

He said the civilian government will have to convince other power centres to act against terrorists there. "It (the civilian government) has to act fast and convince other power structures to act against terror as both countries are suffering because of terrorism," Raju said.

He said that even if Pakistan did not do enough, India will have to take action on its own.

On the action taken till now by the government, Raju said, "As a responsible nation, we are building enough international pressure to force Pakistan to act, otherwise we will have to take measures to defend ourselves." 

Raju said though the international community was putting pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorism there, its civilian government was not strong enough to act against it.

"United States and Great Britain have been putting pressure on Pakistan but I think the civilian power centre in Pakistan is not strong enough to act on its own," he replied when asked if the international community was putting enough pressure on Pakistan to act.

The minister further said that Pakistan had to move its troops from its western borders to the Indian front, as it perceived that India was going to attack.

"We are all aware of the developments that took place subsequent to the Mumbai attacks. There was a perception in Pakistan that India was going to strike and I think they, as a precautionary measure, move their troops," he said.