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| India-Pakistan |
| Sarkozy condemns Pakistan terror 'safe havens' |
| 2010-12-08 |
| [Dawn] French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned Pakistain on Tuesday for allowing hard boyz "safe havens" in its tribal border areas, as he paid tribute to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sarkozy, in Mumbai on the last day of a four-day visit to India, said it was "unacceptable" that terror networks could find refuge in Pakistain and use it as a springboard to attack India, French troops in Afghanistan or other countries. "It is unacceptable that India's security can be threatened by groups of gun-hung tough guys acting from neighbouring countries," he said at the Oberoi hotel, one of the luxury hotels besieged by gun-hung tough guys in November 2008. "It is unacceptable for Afghanistan and for our troops that the Taliban and al Qaeda find safe haven in the border regions of Pakistain. We know the price that the Pak people are paying for terrorism. "But it is unacceptable for the world that terrorist acts should be criminal masterminded and carried out by terrorist groups in Pakistain." "I call on all Pak authorities to step up their efforts and show that they are resolute in combating these criminals," he added, vowing that "there will be no limit to operational co-operation" in counter-terrorism with India. Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni, earlier placed a wreath at a memorial in the south of the city for 18 coppers who bit the dust in the carnage. Sarkozy's comments on India's troubled neighbour mirror similar pronouncements made by US President Barack B.O.Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who have both visited New Delhi in recent months. While visiting India's tech hub Bangalore, Cameron caused a diplomatic spat with Pakistain when he said Islamabad could not "look both ways" in promoting the export of terror while publicly working for stability in the region. Pakistain's government says the country is a victim of terror as well and that it is doing all it can to combat extremism, including in the mountainous tribal border areas where its army has struggled to exert control. Sarkozy's visit to Mumbai -- which later includes an address to business leaders at an Indo-French industry forum -- wraps up a trade-focused visit heavily weighted on nuclear and defence deals. Sarkozy and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday unveiled plans for a 9.3-billion-dollar deal for La Belle France's Areva nuclear group to provide two reactors for a new plant in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital. The deal is short of a final sale contract but makes Areva a front-runner in the highly competitive race to sell nuclear technology to India, which wants atomic energy to supply a quarter of its electricity demands by 2050. The United States and Japan are looking to increase civil nuclear cooperation, while Russia is already building two nuclear power plants in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Sarkzoy's office has said that deals totalling 15 billion euros (20 billion dollars) have been or are about to be signed with Indian companies. They include a leasing agreement for 14 Airbus planes and the modernisation of 51 French-made Mirage fighter jets. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "It is unacceptable for Afghanistan and for our troops that the Taliban and al Qaeda find safe haven in the border regions of Pakistain." While I agree with Sarkozy on this, the safe havens have not proven to be all that safe from our explosives from the sky. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-12-08 09:14 |