USA, Russia condemn temple attack

USA, Russia condemn temple attack

Washington, November 26

The USA has said the militant attacks on temples in Jammu were further attempts to undermine the new government in Jammu and Kashmir while Russia squarely put the onus on Pakistan for ending terrorism in the state.

Condemning the attack as horrific and yet another instance of senseless violence, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday that “violence will not solve Kashmir’s problems nor will terrorism achieve the political goals of any group.”

“These despicable attacks are further attempts to undermine the new state government, which is trying to reduce tensions and promote reconciliation,” he said.

“We are shocked by the several terrorist attacks over the weekend in Jammu and Kashmir, in particular the horrific attack on Sunday on worshippers in a Hindu temple in Jammu,” he said.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry in a hard hitting statement asked Pakistan to honour its anti-terror obligations.

“We underscore that full implementation of their (Pakistan) obligations to eradicate terrorist infrastructure in the country by the Paksitani authorities — is the foremost condition for ending terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said.

The temple attack in Jammu and last month’s Moscow theatre siege in which 130 hostages were killed “are the links of the same chain of crimes” committed by international terrorism posing the main threat to global peace and security, including in South Asia.

Moscow also put the blame for the “heinous crime” in Jammu on the forces striving to scuttle the tendency of de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan