Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, left, addresses a conference of Chief Ministers on internal security as Defense Minister A.K. Antony, right, looks on, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. (AP Photo)
(AP)
One Indian analyst said Singh's speech was intended for several audiences: the Indian electorate, who will be heading to the polls in the coming months and have in the past supported confrontations with Pakistan; leaders in Islamabad, who India thinks should crack down on the terror network it says operates across the border; and the international community, which New Delhi hopes will help pressure Pakistan into action.
"The idea is to make it more than an Indo-Pak issue," said Mahesh Rangarajan, a prominent political expert in New Delhi.
But the comments were viewed in an opposite light across the border.
"It is a cost effective strategy to isolate Pakistan," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Tuesday's verbal sparring came a day after India handed Pakistan evidence that New Delhi said proved the attacks were plotted in Pakistan. The dossier included details from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman, recovered weapons, and intercepted communications with the suspected handlers back in Pakistan.
The investigation into the attack, which left 164 dead, showed the 10 gunmen could not have been working on their own, Singh said.
"We cannot choose our neighbors," Singh said before a meeting with Indian security officials. "Some countries like Pakistan have in the past encouraged and given sanctuary to terrorists and other forces who are antagonistic to India."
Calls for war in India have been largely muted, with even conservative opposition politicians, who endorse a hard line toward Pakistan, adopting a fairly conciliatory approach.
While Pakistan's own rhetoric has been fairly quiet in recent days, it has also moved some of its soldiers toward the Indian border and away from the Afghan border, where Islamabad is battling militants.
Predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan have fought three wars against each other since they gained independence in 1947.
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