18 April 2015, 08:11 GMT
NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must persuade world leaders to pressure Pakistan against supporting separatists in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir, India's former top diplomat told Sputnik on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, media reported Hafiz Saeed, one of the leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, appeared on Pakistani television claiming official support from Islamabad in waging "jihad" against Indian rule in Kashmir.
"[Modi] should talk to the leaders of various countries around the world and raise this issue with them… Further, those countries who are investing and giving economic aid to Pakistan should also put pressure on it," former Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank told Sputnik.
He stressed that Pakistan's establishment is obliged to weed out the elements in the army and government that oppose improving relations between the two countries.
"We had given substantial proof of how these terrorists groups are operating from Pakistani soil and targeting India."
Lashkar-e-Taiba is believed to be behind the deadly Mumbai bombings in 2008 that left 166 dead and 300 injured in India's most populous city.
Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad have been strained over Kashmir ever since British rule in the subcontinent ended almost seven decades ago. Four wars and a number of military conflicts later, India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in 2003.
Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce ever since.
