WORDY DUELS - Pak told to end war hysteria Berhampore/New Delhi:

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Issue is not war but terror: Pranab
India, on Saturday, asked Pakistan not to deflect attention from the real issue of terrorism by whipping up a war hysteria but tackle "face-to- face" the problem of terrorism emanating from its soil.

"I appeal to Pakistan and Pakistani leaders, do not unnecessarily try to create tension. Do not try to deflect (attention from) the issue. A problem has to be tackled face to face. Evading a problem will not help to get rid of it," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Berhampore.

Terming as "unfortunate" the attempts in Pakistan to create a "war hysteria", Mukherjee said the real issue is "not war" or the defence of Pakistan but the terrorist attack on Mumbai.

"It is unfortunate that an atmosphere has been created in Pakistan, some sort of war hysteria," he said. "The issue is how to prevent terrorism. The issue is how to direct the international community to face the terrorist challenge and eliminate terrorism from the face of the world," Mukherjee said.

The "unprecedented scale, magnitude, ferocity and audacity" with which the Mumbai attacks were carried out "clearly demonstrated that it was not only preplanned but also well planned", he said.

In Delhi, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said "it is time for Pakistan to act" against the two organisations -- Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa. "Enough evidence is there. The two organisations have been identified and proscribed by the UN Security Council," Sharma said.

Sharma dubbed as a "disinformation campaign" the claims in the Pakistani media about the arrests of four purported Indian nationals in connection with the recent blasts in Lahore.

"There has been a disinformation campaign by Pakistan inventing incidents which never occurred, making claims of Indians being involved in some violent incidents, which were never there," he told reporters today. Sharma said even the police in Lahore were totally unaware about the arrest of Indian nationals in connection with the blasts in the city. The minister said that considering the situation in Pakistan, India has advised its citizens that this is not an appropriate time to visit Pakistan "because they would be unsafe."