Declare Pakistan a terrorist state: BJP

BJP today said India should press Pakistan to hand over the masterminds of 26/11 Mumbai attacks with the fall of the world's most wanted man Osama Bin Laden and mobilise world opinion to declare it a "terrorist state".

"There is no point in resuming dialogue or having cricket diplomacy until the masterminds of the attack besides (India's most wanted fugitive) Dawood Ibrahim, are handed over to us," party spokesperson Tarun Vijay told reporters.

Such measures will be a "self-defeating" exercise without getting the fugitives, he said, adding, India should now make efforts to mobilise global opinion against Pakistan and declare it as a "terrorist state". "Osama's stay in a military town shows that the Army was giving safe haven to him. Pakistan is a manufacturing facility of terrorists. It should be declared a terror state," he said.

Seeking steps to "denuclearise" Pakistan lest its nuclear arsenal should fall into the hands of terrorists, he said India should take the initiative to form a UN-appointed group of countries to take control of Islamabad's nuclear arsenal.

He said India "should take a cue" from US in protecting itself against terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil. "Why not? India should take a cue from the US in this regard. We are the biggest victims of terrorism in the planet," he said when asked whether BJP favoured surgical strikes. The fact that Pakistani authorities were not kept in the loop about the operation against Bin Laden at Abbotabad, showed ''Washington did not trust Pakistan'', he said.

Asked if the BJP opposed any sort of "fruitful ties" between the two neighbours, he replied in the negative and said it should be based on "mutual reciprocity and commitment." "Islamabad must prove its sincerity towards fight against terrorism by handing over the terrorists wanted by India. It has to prove it is willing to act," he said.

He alleged there was no ''coherent policy'' in the UPA to tackle terrorism emanating from Pakistan as the Prime Minister had made "soft statements" compared to his cabinet colleagues in this regard.