Menon underlines links between Pak agencies, terror

New Delhi/Islamabad, Jul 20 (PTI) The links between
terror networks and Pakistan's official establishment as well
as intelligence agencies were Tuesday underlined by comments
made by India's National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon,
which drew angry reaction from Pakistan.
Without mentioning Pakistan by name, Menon said a "much
clearer picture" has emerged of the infrastructure of
terrorism and "the ecosystem that supports terrorism, which,
frankly, is not confined to South Asia but affects the entire
world."
He said the interrogation of Pakistani-American LeT
operative David Headley, a key accused in the Mumbai attacks,
had confirmed many things that were known earlier.
"I think we know what needs to be done and we also know
who is responsible for terrorism," Menon said at the
ORF-Heritage Foundation Dialogue here.
"For India, it has been brought home most recently by
what we learn from Headley which confirmed many of the things
we knew before. And it is really the links with the official
establishment and with the existing intelligence agencies it
is that nexus which makes it a much harder phenomenon for us
to deal with," the NSA emphasised.
His comments came against the backdrop of revelations
that Headley made about Pakistani Navy training 26/11
attackers and ISI controlling the 60-hour-long Mumbai assault
from beginning to end.
Reacting angrily, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul
Basit said Menon's "baseless accusations were yet another
manifestation of the Indian establishment's propagandistic
stance toward Pakistan."
In a statement in Islamabad, Basit added that Menon's
comments were "entirely inconsistent with the understanding
reached between the leadership of the two countries" during a
meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Bhutan that
"terrorism was a common threat which needed to be addressed in
a cooperative manner."
Menon said, "It is not because we do not understand the
problem or the strategies are intrinsically flawed. No. But I
think we know what needs to be done and we also know who is
responsible for terrorism."
"Unfortunately, what we know and what we see suggests
that these links or nexus (between terror outfits and official
establishment) would not be broken soon. If anything, it is
getting stronger," he said. (MORE) PTI