January 16, 2002	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 1, 1422

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NEW DELHI, Jan 15: India on Tuesday claimed US backing for its hardline stance against what it calls terrorist activities emanating from Pakistan, and said it was too early to assess a crackdown on religious extremists ordered by President Pervez Musharraf.

Returning from a six-day US visit, during which he met President George W. Bush and other top officials, Home Minister L.K. Advani said there was a unanimity of views on the question of “cross-border terrorism”.

“I conveyed India’s concerns and I feel the US leadership understands them,” Advani said.

“I can’t think of a single time when they didn’t agree with all that we said.”

During his visit, Advani had pushed the United States to exert more pressure on Pakistan to crack down on groups New Delhi blames for carrying out operations in India, including the Dec 13 suicide attack on parliament.

India on Monday ruled out pulling back its forces from the border. “It’s only three days since Gen Musharraf announced these steps. This is not sufficient time to assess the steps taken,” Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after a meeting of the Indian security cabinet on Tuesday.

“India is looking forward to action on cross-border terrorism, preventing infiltration in (occupied) Kashmir and also action against wanted terrorists and criminals,” Singh said.

He also echoed Advani’s assessment of US support for India, saying there was “no dissonance between India’s views and the views held by the US political leadership”.

But US Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear that President Musharraf had gone beyond mere rhetoric.—AFP