BJP's mantra on response to Pakistan

Acknowledging that a war with Pakistan cannot be an option at this juncture, the BJP instead suggested UN-supervised joint military action against terrorists operating out of the neighbouring country. The saffron party also wanted economic sanctions on Islamabad for not acting against terrorists and sought the US’ support for it. “India could consider the option of military blockade of Karachi,” said BJP president Rajnath Singh in Mumbai . He also called for framing charges of “war crimes” against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jamaat-ud-Dawaa and ISI in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Mr Singh felt the government should take the international community into confidence and persuade it to launch a joint military action under UN Security Council’s supervision against terrorists operating from Pakistan. “The UPA government considers the US as India’s strategic partner after signing the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. It is high time that the Centre uses its diplomatic channels with Washington to stop all financial assistance to Pakistan and work jointly to impose economic sanctions against it,” Mr Singh said. He said the US aid to Pakistan was nearly $ 2 billion a year. Recently, the US was instrumental in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) providing a $7.6-billion package to save Pakistan from bankruptcy. “According to credible media reports published in US dailies, Pakistan has been diverting the monetary assistance from Western countries to fund terrorist modules that work against India,” the BJP leader said. He said Pakistan leadership has admitted to the role of “non-state players” in the Mumbai attacks. “The international community must take cognisance of the fact that Islamabad cannot control the non-state actors operating in the country,” he said.