The Times of India
G8 unites against Mumbai attacks Diwakar [ 18 Jul, 2006 0008hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
ST PETERSBURG: "A very strong message should go out from this session against terrorism," PM Manmohan Singh said at the G8 summit, arguing "no cause is worthy enough to justify the killing of civilians".
He also received support from US president George Bush, who, while expressing solidarity with India, backed its case for a strong statement.
Having lobbied hard for the statement, India, as the foreign secretary indicated, was naturally pleased with its unambiguous tone. Judged "strongly-worded" by observers here, the statement marks the turning of denunciations by individual nations in the immediate wake of the Mumbai massacre into a chorus of condemnation.
It also assumes significance because the signatories did not limit themselves to merely the perpetrators, but also implicated the sponsors. This is important from New Delhi's point of view given that it has made no bones of its conviction about Pakistan being the mastermind of the continuing acts of anti-India terrorism.
Besides, the statement marked a setback to the renewed attempt by Pakistan to distinguish terrorism in other settings from the one aimed against India on the ground that the latter was a product of frustrations over the denial of right to self-determination or, lately, religious persecution, and, therefore, worthy of indulgence.
The signatories to the statement of solidarity with Mumbai and J&K included President Bush, President Putin of Russia, President Hu Jintao of China, Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi, German chancellor Angela Merkel, President Jacques Chirac of France, British PM Tony Blair, Italian PM Romano Prodi, Canadian PM Stephen Harper, Finland PM and EU president Matti Taneli Vanhanen, President of Kazakhstan and chairman of CIS states Nursultan Nazarbaev, South African president Thabo Mbeki, president of Congo and chairman of the African Union Denis Sassou Nguesso, Brazilian president Lula da Silva and UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
The leaders stressed: "We are united with India in our resolve to intensify efforts to fight terrorism, which constitutes a threat to each of our countries."
Terrorism was the focus of the interaction Singh had with President Bush. Bush said terrorism must be fought wherever it occurs. German chancellor Merkel and Japanese premier Koizumi also spoke strongly against terrorism which was identified among the areas of common concern at the first trilateral summit of India, Russia and China.
Indian officials felt the attack on Mumbai was clearly the trigger for the toughening of the stance which marked a rebuff to Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri's audacious attempt to link the attack on innocent train commuters to "unresolved issues".