Pak must act against those guilty of terror attacks in India: Sarkozy

“We need to fight against barbarians, who want to target European and Indian population,” he said during an interactive session on ‘France, Europe, India: Challenges and Opportunities’ organised by FICCI .

Asserting that France wants Pakistan to act against those who carry out attacks against India and “bring them to book”, Sarkozy said India’s neighbour needs to do more in the war against terror. Sarkozy, who is on a visit to India, also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh.

Asserting that “France is by India’s side”, he said the country wanted that “India’s neighbours, especially Pakistan, must take action so that those who carried out (terror) attacks are brought to the book”. He added, “Pakistan needs to cooperate and those guilty (of terror attacks on India) should be arrested.” Asked about his message to Pakistan, Sarkozy said: “Pakistan is a really important and big country. Everyone recognises its importance, but it needs to be more involved in the war against terrorism”.

Noting that “India suffers from terror attacks and we know where they are coming from,” Sarkozy said closing one’s eyes amounts to “complicity” in the act. Underlining the threat of terrorism, the former French President said both India and France had witnessed the acts of terrorism and it was time for all nations to build a consensus to fight against it. Stressing on deeper cooperation between nations on tackling terrorism, he underlined that without global cooperation, terrorists would find safe haven in some countries.

About a permanent seat to India at the UN Security Council, Sarkozy said it was “absurd” to imagine that the world’s largest democracy was yet to become a permanent member of the powerful wing of the world body. “We must ensure India has a permanent membership of the Security Council. How can you ignore a billion Indians?” Sarkozy wondered. 

He added France did not support the UN’s double standard, where it gave the power of veto to one permanent member and disallowed another from the same. He stressed that it was high time that the UN adopted a uniform process for all its members.