Act forcefully as situation dangerous post attack: US to Pak

Washington, Dec 12 (PTI) The United States has said that
although there is "no bellicose talk" from either India or
Pakistan in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Mumbai but
the situation is "obviously dangerous and Islamabad needs to
act forcefully".

"I heard no bellicose talk from either of these (India
and Pakistan) governments. I heard instead a very deep concern
to deal with the situation. Fortunately, we are in a little
bit better situation than we were in 2001-02 -- when the two
states were on the verge of war-- because India and Pakistan
have done a lot of work to improve their relations," Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview to CNBC.

"Frankly, the US has better relations with India and
Pakistan than in 2001-02. But it is obviously a dangerous
situation, and Pakistan needs to act and act forcefully."

The US Secretary of State said that purpose of her visit
to India, after the terror attack, was to send a "very strong"
message of solidarity and support to Indian people, their
government and particularly to the people of Mumbai because
this was a terrible attack, a heinous crime.

"And I think the Indians rightly were concerned to make
sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and that
follow-on attacks are prevented," she said.

About her Pakistan visit, she said "I then went on to
Pakistan to emphasise with the civilian government, the
government that I think wants to do the right things
concerning terrorism."

"This was a time to act, that the fact that Pakistani
soil had been used by these non-state actors to carry out an
attack like this, in which, by the way, Americans also died,
was of deep concern to the United States."

"And so that was the purpose of the trip, and so far, at
least some steps seem to be taken that may lead to -- to those
two goals, bringing the perpetrators to justice and getting
India and Pakistan to cooperate to make certain that future
attacks don't take place," Rice said in an interview to CNBC.

The top State Department official was asked what she told
India as to what would be an appropriate response to the
terrorism.

"I talked about a response that would actually be
commensurate with the goals. The goals are to -- to bring the
perpetrators to justice and to prevent a follow-on attack.

"Anything that in fact would make the situation worse or
might introduce unintended consequences is not going to be
good for the stability of the region or really it isn't going
to address what needs to be done. And that was also my message
to India," Rice replied. PTI