PM meets Indian envoys, to turn the heat on Pak

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be meeting all the 120 heads of Indian missions from across the world in New Delhi on Tuesday and is expected to ask them to keep up building pressure on Pakistan.

The heads of Indian missions are in New Delhi to discuss Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan's role in instigating the attacks and India’s diplomatic options.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday had inaugurated the two-day meet and briefed envoys on the diplomatic offensive mounted against Pakistan by India following the Mumbai terror attacks.

Addressing the meet, Mukherjee has also warned Pakistan that India has kept all its options open if Islamabad does not act against terror groups based on its soil.

"Terrorist infrastructure has to be dismantled permanently. Terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is dangerous to peace and security of entire world," Mukherjee had said.

He had also demanded that the major powers of the world need to do more to tackle terrorism and said that the current effort by the global community is not enough.

Blaming Pakistan for supporting terror groups, the External Affairs Minister said, "Pakistan has unfortunately resorted to the policy of denial and is shifting the blame and responsibility. Elements within Pakistan still continue to use terrorists as an instrument of state policy."

Earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said Islamabad will have to fight terror or else terror will consume Pakistan.

"This really comes down to dealing with the problem, and that means Pakistan has got to do everything it can to help bring the perpetrators to justice," Rice said in an interview to Financial Times.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen is in Islamabad on Tuesday and is expected to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari later in the day.

Dawn News Correspondent Mubashir Zaidi said that Mullen's visit to Islamabad is aimed at easing Indo-Pak tensions.

"Mike Mullen met the Army chief last night (Monday night). The statement after that was about Indo-Pak relations and nothing about Afghanistan. So it was more to cool off temper and US has asked Paksitan to do more. He appreciated the efforts made by Pakistan on the LeT crackdown but also asked for a judicial effort which was lacking in the previous cases. The sincerity of Pakistan will count if they book Jamaat leaders and take action in the court of law," said Zaidi.

Pakistan is still unconvinced about India's charges that all the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November were Pakistani saying there isn't enough proof.

According Pakistani media reports Pakistan Air Force is on a high alerts and has increased its surveillance.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani newspaper The Nation claims the Indian Air Force plans to hit targets in Lahore and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in the next 24 hours.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble, too, is in Pakistan and is likely to raise the issue of terrorists and criminals demanded by India.

PM holds war room meet; reviews security, defence

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a high-level war room meeting in New Delhi on Saturday evening with senior ministers and defence chiefs to discuss the security preparedness.

The meeting lasted for over two hours and discussed the country's security preparedness and selective strikes on terror camps across the border.

Defence Minister AK Antony, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and senior armed forces officials including all the three Service chiefs attended the meeting.

The marathon meeting assumes significance as there is heightened terror threat and tension with Pakistan and the Union Government has already declared that it is keeping all options open on dealing with any external threat following the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistani terrorists.

Earlier in the day, the Defence Minister AK Antony presided a separate meeting with Coast Guard and Defence Ministry officials to review the security of Indian coastline where he cleared the acquisition proposals for the sea-guarding agency.

India cannot remain a global 'back office': PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India should not remain a 'back office' to provide R&D solutions to the world and asked scientists to do more to keep pace with China and Japan who have 'scored over' it in taking scientific and technological advances to the people.

"We cannot be satisfied becoming a back office for providing research and development solutions for multinational companies," he told a gathering of top scientists in New Delhi.

Singh gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes, the country's highest science awards, for 2007 and 2008 to 21 young scientists.

"China and Japan have scored over India in delivering to the people the benefits of scientific and technological advances," he said.

"Unless we apply ourselves to this task, the powerful scientific tools of social and economic change will remain confined to our laboratories and institutions," he said.

"Our scientists should work to connect science to the daily lives of millions of Indians," the prime minister said pitching for use of public-private partnerships to commercialise technologies emerging from R&D programmes being funded by various science departments.

He said the scientists should focus more on linking the lab with the market and asked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to take lead in this regard.

"To begin with, let CSIR work to commercially exploit its

knowledge base, currently embodied in more that 3,000 or so patents held nationally and globally," Singh said.

Noting that the world is confronted with potentially devastating climatic changes, the prime minister asked scientists to use the "ingenuity and inventiveness" of science to find ways to "leapfrog" to future technologies, which are affordable and sustainable.

"We can use some part of the public investment, which we will spend to stimulate our economies, in these technologies that will help build sustainable pathways to development," he said.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is putting together a plan that will provide us the framework for research and investigation in the area of climate change, he said.

Singh said the government will spare no resource to ensure that the country's huge potential in the science and technology is utilised.

"The creativity of and innovation of our scientists are a matter of great pride for our country. They have pushed the frontiers of science to enable us to strengthen our defence capabilities; improve our healthcare and our agricultural economy; extend the reach of our communications and land on the moon," he said.