New Delhi, July 29: Not relenting on his anti-terror pitch, UK PM David Cameron publicly asked Pakistan to crack down on the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and the Taliban after meeting Dr Manmohan Singh, at the end of his two day visit to India.
"We will make sure Pak acts against militant groups be it LeT or Pakistani Taliban," Cameron said.
On being asked his reaction to Pakistan reacting strongly against hia similar statements made here yesterday, Cameron said he would do the plain talk with Pakistan leaders.
"The right thing to do is to explain the situation as it is. LeT needs to be cracked down upon. I think the right thing is to have discussion with Pakistan frankly, clearly and openly. Next week, I will have discussions with President of Pakistan," he said. Singh joined cause with Cameron and said India expects world community would promote India's position that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for terrorism.
"Pakistan government has taken steps and it needs to take further steps to reduce terrorism in Afghanistan, India and the streets of London," he said. Cameron further said terror emanating from Pakistan was unacceptable, adding that to be fair, the latter has acted against terror in recent past. He also said the situation in Afghanistan was also discussed with Singh.
"We agreed that terrorism is the single biggest threat to the region and further intensify cooperation in fighting terrorism," he said.
Singh said that he believed after 9/11, the world community has recognised that terrorism constitutes a very important threat to all civilised societies in the world. "Further there is an agreement that there is no cause is good enough to justify to resort to terrorism," he said.
India and Britain also decided to take their relationship to the next level by expanding ties in the fields of trade, science & technology, defence, culture.
"The meeting with Cameron this afternoon was very productive. His visit to India soon after becoming the PM of Britain shows the bond that our two countries share," Singh told media persons at a joint press conference.
India and Britain have also decided to constitute India-UK CEO Forum and India-UK Infrastructure Group besides doubling the quantum of trade in the next five years, Singh said.
Cameron, on his part, said Britain looks forward to early conclusion of India-EU trade agreement.
Speaking for the first time on the fiasco of India-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' meet, Singh said what happened could have been avoided.
"The way the press conference was handled by the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the end of the talks could have been avoided," Singh said.