Frank Pallone

Washington: Coming down heavily on Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai serial blasts, a top U.S. lawmaker has said Islamabad's failure to live up to its promise to rein in terror outfits is threatening the peace process with India.

Frank Pallone, a Democrat, told the House of Representatives that Pakistan still lacked appropriate laws to deter terrorist cells from "looming and growing within their borders."

"Pakistan's failure to rein in terrorist organisations operating within its borders is threatening the peace process. Despite having vowed in 2004 not to allow any part of the territory under its control be used by groups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba [LeT], Pakistan has simply watched while terrorist attacks took place in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country," said Mr. Pallone, founder of the Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.

"All leads are now pointing to the involvement of LeT, a terrorist organisation that has received support from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence. LeT is a group active in Jammu and Kashmir. Although the group is outlawed in Pakistan, it continues to function under other guises. In fact, their leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed enjoys freedom in Pakistan despite this official ban on his organisations," Mr. Pallone said.

Offering condolences to the families of the victims of the attack, he said that "although slow moving, the peace process between India and Pakistan was promising and I am afraid that Pakistan now stands in the way of further progress."

— PTI

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