Pak's verbal assurances leave India cold

Apparently unsatisfied with Pakistan's verbal assurances that it was controlling cross-border terrorism, India said on Tuesday night that it would study the ground situation and draw its own conclusion on the matter.

"If Pakistan has said that it is in the frontline in the fight against terrorism and doing everything possible to control whichever group or individuals are engaged in such activities, the best way to judge this is to judge what is being done on the ground," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters.

"If it is not being done on the ground, if evidence is pointing in the opposite direction, then we will have to draw the necessary conclusions," he said.

Saran's comments came after Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riyaz Mohd Khan said on Tuesday that Islamabad has banned militant group Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the terror outfit was not operating under any other name. Pakistan has also claimed that global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim is not in its territory.

When referred to India's demand for arrest of Jamat-ud-Dawa leaders, as the organisation is a cover for the LeT, he said it was a charity organisation.

"LeT has been banned in Pakistan and all steps are being taken to freeze their offices and other assets," Khan said, adding LeT was not operating under any other name.

Insisting that there should be conclusive evidence with India before pointing fingers at Pakistan, he said, "We reject this attitude of instinctive reactions and attempts to find a convenient scapegoat."