Taliban has to be confronted and defeated: India

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday underlined the danger posed by the Taliban to the region and the world and stressed on the need for confronting and defeating the hardline militia, which "propagates the cult of violence". "The Taliban has to be confronted and defeated. There can't be a brutal Taliban or a benign Taliban," minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma told reporters here. "Terrorism in whatever form has to be condemned. There is no cause that can justify the killing of civilians," Sharma said. "Taliban propagates the cult of violence and represents the forces of religious intolerance," Sharma added. Sharma also underscored the need for Pakistan to take firm and demonstrative action to dismantle the structure of terrorism in its territory. The Pakistani government had on Monday approved a peace deal between the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) administration and the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) of radical cleric Sufi Muhammad under which Shariat law would be introduced in seven districts of the province, including the Swat valley the Taliban controls. The cleric is currently in Swat for talks with his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, who heads the local Taliban in the area. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who Sunday gave the go-ahead for signing the deal, said he would endorse it only if the Taliban laid down their arms and peace returned to the region.