Sharif calls for 'serious action'

If Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive in Mumbai, was indeed from Pakistan then it was time for Pakistan to take "very serious action" and let India know, says former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

"If a Pakistani name is being taken, a man who belongs to a place called Faridkot or any other place, I think we should take very very serious notice of that. Not just notice, we should take serious action and we should let India know that, here, the action is now being taken against such elements. And it should also be a source of satisfaction to the Indian government, that yes, Pakistan is taking action," Sharif said in response to media reports that Kasab was from Faridkot.

"Pakistan must take action in a very transparent manner," he told a news magazine at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Lahore.

In a significant proposal, he said there should be "a no first attack pact, a no first pact agreement, a no war pact between the two countries and this included both conventional and nuclear".

That, in his view, was the best for both countries and what they should be focussing on.