The Congress party on Monday demanded that a special session of parliament be called to declare Pakistan a "terrorist state" and also sought "near absolute" economic sanctions against the neighbouring country.
"We demand that a special one or two-day session of parliament be called to discuss the security situation and particularly to declare Pakistan a 'terrorist state'. The Congress party also demands near absolute economic sanctions against Pakistan," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference here.
"We also demand considerable scaling down of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and vice-versa scaling down of our mission there."
"We also demand vehement lobbying across the world with every major power, which has a link or which provides aid or has economic co-operation with Pakistan," he said.
Singhvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Bharatiya Janata Party's National Council meeting in Kerala's Kozhikode city demonstrated "strategic ambiguity and not strategic response".
"We do not want this to lead to strategic confusion making India the laughing stock of the world. One of the biggest responses we could think of was to try and convince our friend Russia not to have joined military exercises with Pakistan."
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"We failed even in that because they are still having joint military exercise, only the venue has changed," he added.
The Congress leader said: "The government's message in Kozhikode has delivered unsatisfactory and somewhat worrisome response. India is looking weak as having failed to deliver meaty blows to Pakistan."
"We always stand for strategic restraint but strategic restraint in the face of such provocation should not mean the absence of a strategic response. It should not let Pakistan and the world to think that we are having an aimless political strategy," he said.
"The only response we have had from a so-called 'mazboot sarkar' are mere statements, rhetoric and 'jumlas'," Singhvi added.
The Congress also sought to know why there was delay in considering and finalising the asylum request of Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti.
"Why keep it hanging either way? If we have reasons not to grant, reject it, but otherwise, why keep it hanging?" Singhvi asked.
The Congress also blamed the government for not having made any serious progress in strengthening the Intelligence Bureau, notifying the National Counter-terrorism Centre (NCTC), police modernisation and activation of NATGRID scheme -- a centralised Internet-based information grid or integrated intelligence grid to track all forms of terrorism.
--IANS
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