Pranab, Rice hopeful on terror mechanism

External affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said India hopes the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism between New Delhi and Islamabad will be made “more effective”, reports Tushar Srivastava.

External affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said India hopes the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism between New Delhi and Islamabad will be made “more effective”.

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Mukherjee discussed with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the growing militant threat to the civilian government in Pakistan.

After their meeting, Rice said she hoped that India and Pakistan develop a good relationtionship. “We had a good discussion on Pakistan. We all have a stake in a successful civilian government in Pakistan that can deal with the considerable challenges.”

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Mukherjee said, had assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Pakistani territory would not be used for terrorist activities against India.

It had been decided that a special meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism would be held in October to address mutual concerns, including the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.