Rethink on holding dialogue with Pak: BJP tells PM

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has asked Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to rethink on holding talks with Pakistan after Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in a United States military operation in Abbottabad near the Pakistan military academy, 61 km from Islamabad.

Osama's killing was one of the key issues discussed during a meeting of the Bhartiya Janata Party's core committee leaders at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"Dr Singh and the United Progressive Alliance government need to introspect upon their policy towards Pakistan. Talks and terror cannot co-exist. Pakistan is a sponsor of terror and not its victim. It has not been honest in its commitment that its area is not being used for terror. The world has realised this reality. We urge the government of India to reason it out," Jaitley said.

He said that the PM's statement on Pakistan being a victim of terror has no takers.

"The BJP considers the elimination of Osama bin Laden -- the global face of terrorism -- as a high point in the war against terror. The fact that Osama was housed in a mansion close to a Pakistani military academy establishes that Pakistan is the epicenter of global terrorism, which was harbouring the most wanted terrorist," the senior BJP leader said.

He pointed out, "The fact that Osama's mansion was near the Pakistan capital has vindicated India's legitimate concern that those who have perpetrated terror in India are also housed comfortably in Pakistan. Those who use terrorism as an instrument of state policy will always suffer due to their duplicity."