London: India has decided to get tough with Pakistan and may break business, transport and tourist links with it.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in an interview to a UK newspaper The Times newspaper in London said that if Pakistan continued its flip-flop and did not cooperate in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks investigations, India might break the links.
"There are many, many links between India and Pakistan, and if Pakistan does not cooperate and does not help to bring the perpetrators to heel, those ties will become weaker and weaker and one day snap," said Chidambaram.
He then went on to add, "Why would we entertain Pakistani business people? Why would we entertain tourists in India? Why would we send tourists there?"
Accusing Islamabad of doing nothing to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, Chidamabaram said Islamabad has provided "nothing" so far after New Delhi handed over a dossier of evidence linking elements within that country to the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26.
Asked what Pakistan was doing to help with the investigation, Chidambaram said: "Zero. What have they provided? Nothing."
He, however, did not reveal when India planned to take the step but said, "We need cooperation soon."
Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza sought to down play Chidambaram's remarks that India may snap links with Pakistan and said he did not mind such statements as the Indian government was under "tremendous" public pressure over the Mumbai attack.
Asked to comment on Chidambaram's remarks, Gilani said, "I'll act extremely responsibly. There is tremendous pressure of the public on the Indian government for such sort of statements. Therefore, I don't mind their statements."
Gilani also claimed that the material provided by India on the Mumbai attacks constituted "information" and not evidence and said that "pragmatic cooperation" was the way forward for dealing with the 26/11 terror attacks.
"All that has been received formally from India is some information. I say information because these are not the evidence. This needs to be carefully examined," he said while making a statement in the National Assembly.
India has handed over an evidence dossier to Pakistan with proof of Pakistani terror groups having a hand in Mumbai attacks.
Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai terror attacks, has revealed his interrogators that he is from Pakistan and was trained in Lashkar camps.
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