Delaram, Jan 22: Making it clear
as to it expects from the new US administration, India on Thursday
said the tendency to equate perpetrators and victims of
terrorist acts should be avoided.
"The commitment to fight against terrorism should be
total. Sometimes, we find there is tendency to equate the
perpetrators of terrorist acts and victims of terrorist acts
together and hyphenated.
"This tendency must be avoided. Perpetrators of terrorist
acts must be penalised," External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee told reporters here after formally handing over Delaram-
Zaranj highway project to the Afghan authorities.
The minister said that he hoped that the new US President
Barack Obama recognised that the Indo-US relations had reached
new heights over the last few years.
"The relations should be maintained at that level. The
commitment to fight against terrorism should be total,"
Mukherjee said.
In an apparent reference to Pakistan, he pointed out that
it was the primary responsibility of the incumbent governments
to bring to justice the perpetrators of terror acts operating
on their territories.
Bureau Report
