Tel Aviv [Israel], November 26 (ANI): Pakistan promotes state sponsor of terrorism especially against India and Afghanistan and has given shelter to the largest number of extremists and terrorists, said former Indian ambassador to Jordan, Malta and Jordan, Anil Trigunayat, on the 12th anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks.

In an opinion piece in Jerusalem Post, Trigunayat, who is a distinguished fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, wrote that the choice now lies with Islamabad and Pakistani people, who have become collateral damage due to malicious acts of terrorism perpetrated by their deep state and its surrogates.

On November 26, 2008, 10 terrorists trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai including the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, killing 166 people.

"Although the Pakistani political leadership did condemn the attacks and offered full cooperation, no real progress has been made, suggesting their complicity or ill intent. It was neither the first time nor the last time our northwestern neighbors vowed to inflict 1,000 cuts on India. New Delhi provided all the evidence and documents against the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists led by Hafiz Saeed, who roams freely and rather majestically in Pakistan, lives at the courtesy of state institutions, and enjoys the blessings of successive governments in the so-called "failed state of Pakistan," wrote Trigunayat.

"It is a known fact that Pakistan has been a state sponsor of terrorism, especially against India and Afghanistan. Its fingerprints have been reported from Chechnya to Nagorno-Karabakh. It has given shelter to the largest number of extremists and terrorists, and has acknowledged their presence in the country, according to various reports," he added.

Pakistani authorities continue to deny culpability and yet to take action on the multiple dossiers shared by India. A trial underway in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court against seven suspects has made little headway in more than a decade, as Pakistani officials serially question the sufficiency and legitimacy of evidence against them.

The former ambassador said, in 2009, Pakistan had admitted that the Mumbai attacks were indeed planned and carried out from Lashkar-e-Taiba camps in Karachi and Thatta. "Despite all the information, Pakistan refused to take decisive action and prevaricated on one account or the other. Even the judiciary was made a pawn in the game by the deep state," he wrote.

He highlighted that New Delhi, which despite several terrorist attacks from Pakistan or its surrogates, did try to work on a bilateral relationship, but "every time an effort was made to move forward a more lethal terrorist attack followed".

"India had no option but to follow a policy of exposing and isolating Pakistan in international forums as the fountain of terrorism and extremism and haven of radicalization," he added.

To defend itself against nefarious state and non-state actors from across the border, the former ambassador said India has decided to strike back decisively. "Surgical strikes after Uri and Balakot after Pulwama are the vectors of this counter-terrorism policy. International collaboration though intelligence exchange has increased India's international partners, who are equally committed to eradicate this scourge against humanity," he further wrote.

"The choice now lies with Islamabad and the Pakistani people, who have become collateral damage due to malicious acts of terrorism perpetrated by their deep state and its surrogates. When will justice be done for the victims of November 26? If this question gets resolved and justice is done, perhaps the two neighbours can move forward, but "terrorism and talks" can't go together," he added. (ANI)