Pakistan Needs To Do More To Combat Terror: U.S.

American Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer has said his country is co-operating at the highest level to provide India access to the accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks--Pakistan-born naturalilzed American David Headley, alias Dawood Gilani, even as it says Islamabad has to do more to fight terror to ensure that India and America are safe.

"India is an indispensable ally of the U.S...we share information on security issues and work together in places around the globe, like in Afghanistan," he told reporters Tuesday after paying tributes to the 26/11 attack martyrs at Marine Drive in Mumbai.

Asserting that Washington has been providing indirect access to sharing intelligence for months about that acquired information, he said now the door was open and the opportunity existed for New Delhi in the weeks ahead to get direct access in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time to Headley.

"We work together in historic ways on providing access to people like David Headley where the U.S. is co-operating at the highest level to eventually provide access to this person who helped pull off the savagery of the attack on Mumbai on 26/11," he added.

Acknowledging Pakistan's contribution to fight terror, he said Islamabad needed to do a lot more to combat the menace to ensure that India and America were safe.

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments underscore that while Pakistan has done a lot (to fight terror), it needed to do more to help protect countries like the U.S. and India from terrorist attacks," he said.

Roemer's strong message to Pakistan came a day after Clinton rapped the Islamic country for not revealing enough on Osama bin Laden and just days after she warned Islamabad of "severe consequences" if the May 1 aborted terrorist bomb attack in the Times Square, New York, were to be traced to Pakistan.

On India's concerns over the alleged diversion of U.S. aid to Pakistan to fund terror activities directed at it, Roemer said the Obama administration would ensure that Pakistan used the American aid properly.

On the scheduled meeting of the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in mid-July, he said "it is important that India and Pakistan talk."

Drawing parallels with two policemen who had laid down their lives in the U.S. while protecting those working at the Capitol Hill during an attack and the sacrifice of the Mumbai policemen, Roemer said President Obama asked him to go to Indian financial capital to pay respect to the police officers and men who laid down their lives protecting the city and its people from attack.