Awaiting evidence in Pune blast, says Tharoor

With investigators trying to unravel the identity of those behind the Pune blast, the government "may not yet" point finger at any foreign country for the terror attack till more evidence was gathered, Union minister Shashi Tharoor said on Monday.

"All of us are still awaiting the final investigation of the blast. We may not yet point the finger at any foreign country until we get far more evidence," the minister of state for external affairs said. According to Tharoor, "through diplomacy and international cooperation, we have to do what we can do to prevent attacks from outside. But to think of 100 per cent safety, I think it should be impossible. I am not accusing the government of Pakistan at all. In fact we believe there are a number of actors in Pakistan who may be beyond the control of the government, who may be behind some of these actions."

He also stressed the need for strengthening security measures in the country. "I have never believed in my UN days that there could be such foolproof security. I think what we should have to do is we have to strengthen security measures in our country," he said. Looking back at the past 15 years of terror attacks on India, Tharoor said "the home of majority of the attacks originated from across the border. That is the root cause of the kind of problems that we are enduring here." Tharoor also emphasised the need for promoting security culture within the country. "We ourselves have to be little more attentive. Every staff member working...including the waiters must be given some basic consciousness on how to behave when it comes to suspicious object or packages left behind," he said.

Replying to a query, he said if anybody leaves a bag unattended for more than five minutes in airports today, airport staff will call the police. "Why can't we have that level of consciousness now in every public place," he asked. To increase security consciousness, the centre was doing great deal more to pull together security awareness, information sharing, co-ordination with police and other security personnel, he said, adding 'but still 100 percent (security) is not possible'. Tharoor said he "will not sit here and state with confidence that nowhere in India will there be another attack of this nature or other nature in the months to come. That would be irresponsible".