NEW DELHI, Sept 24: The anti-terror mechanism recently agreed upon by India and Pakistan in Havana came under a cloud after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned of widening fidayeen attacks across the country and his predecessor described the deal as a conspiracy against India.

Reacting strongly to the joint statement in Havana on the anti-terror mechanism, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said: “Whatever took place is not right. This joint statement is a conspiracy against India. Its implementation will jeopardise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Mr Vajpayee’s remarks were made in an interview to RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya. He demanded that Prime Minister Singh should reveal what happened behind the scene during his meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in the Cuban capital.

Mr Vajpayee said Pakistan would derive advantage from the joint statement by taking ‘further steps’ in keeping with its ‘evil designs’.

Dr Singh addressed Congress party chief ministers in the hill resort of Nainital where he warned them of a likely spurt in suicide attacks targeting religious, economic and sensitive institutions in the country.

“Activities of externally-sponsored terrorist outfits are equally worrisome; their involvement has grown. The concern is that there could be a further intensification involving greater use of fidayeen element and targeting of a wider range of religious, economic and sensitive objects,” Dr Singh said. The prime minister said cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir had come down. “The state’s people want to lead a life of dignity and self-respect and we have to develop Jammu and Kashmir economically and socially,” he said.

“Return to normalcy is being prevented by some elements who incite people through stray incidents,” he said.

The prime minister decried “deliberate attempts” to magnify “stray incidents” in Jammu and Kashmir and said that efforts to bring normalcy in the trouble-torn state should be pursued “with vigour” by talking to the people of the state and with Pakistani leadership.