David Cameron risked provoking a diplomatic row with Pakistan today when he came close to accusing Islamabad of exporting terrorism.
In a speech to Indian business leaders in Bangalore, the prime minister spoke of his horror when terrorists attacked Mumbai in 2008, for which Delhi blamed the Pakistani authorities.
Cameron said he had discussed the terror threat from Pakistan with the US president, Barack Obama last week. He will also discuss it tomorrow in Delhi with Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister.
He came near to endorsing India's view when he said: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.
"That is why this relationship is important. It should be a relationship based on a very clear message: that it is not right to have any relationship with groups that are promoting terror. Democratic states that want to be part of the developed world cannot do that. The message to Pakistan from the US and the UK is very clear on that point".
Britain has spoken in the past of the terror threat that emerges from Pakistan. Gordon Brown said that a majority of terror threat to Britain emerged from the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But the prime minister's language this morning suggested that he was coming close to endorsing the Indian view that the authorities in Pakistan have a hand in the terror.
The Guardian
