US tells Pak to root out terrorism

We wont force New Delhi to resume talks with Islamabad, says Hillary

Clinton arrived here on Friday night on a five-day visit to India, nine years after her husband former president Bill Clinton, visited the metropolis. She stayed at the Taj Mahal Hotel, which had come under the terror attack on 26/11, and paid tributes to those killed during the mayhem, including a few American nationals.

She had not met her Indian counterparts as yet and there was nothing substantive she had to say during her just 10-minute interaction with media persons at the Taj Mahal Hotel.

She made an opening statement and then only five questions were allowed from the press. She told the news conference that the US had seen “a much greater effort and commitment ... to take on the terrorists” in Pakistan.

“There is a concerted effort we can look forward to. It is too early to tell the outcome of this commitment from Pakistan. In the next few days, I believe, there will be a greater awareness whether or not to bring the Mumbai terrorists to justice,” she said.
Clinton asked Pakistan to dismantle all terror outfits, including Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was behind the 26/11 attacks, and its new face Jamaat-ud-Dawa, but parried a question on whether the United States would put pressure on Islamabad to hand over Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to India.
Clinton made it clear that the US would not force India to resume talks with Pakistan, saying it is for the two sovereign governments to take a decision. “We have made it clear that the US respects India’s decision,” she said.

Climate change
To a query on India and China contributing to carbon emissions, Clinton said: “There is no inherent contradiction between poverty eradication and moving towards a carbon emission-free regime.

“What the United States wanted was that countries like India and China do not commit the same mistakes like the US and other developed countries,” she said. Bilateral cooperation in the civilian nuclear field, defence and trade and investment are expected to figure in the talks she would hold with Indian leaders in New Delhi.
The two sides are in negotiations to set up two nuclear plants in India.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Clinton are also expected to discuss the end user verification agreement in the defence field, under which the US will be able to supply sensitive military equipment to India. She will fly to Delhi on Sunday.

Before the press conference, she had a breakfast meeting with business leaders, which was attended by Ratan Tata, Ambani brothers and other prominent industrialists.