London: Chiding the international community for adopting "double standards" on combating terrorism, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has said they were turning a blind eye to Pakistan sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir as an instrument of state policy.

"The militants are armed by our neighbour. They kill innocent men, women and children. But Pakistan says they are only assisting the freedom struggle. This is the double standard adopted by western countries in measuring terrorism (by not taking Pakistan to task)," Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister said if the militants who had attacked Parliament on December 13 were not tackled in time they would have created mayhem inside Parliament.

"After enquiry, it was found that they were Pakistani nationals. This is madness," he said addressing a large gathering of Indian community at a reception hosted in his honour by High Commissioner Ronen Sen in London on October 12 night.

Referring to the J&K elections, he said when he announced on August 15 last year that free and fair elections would be held in the state "no body believed me".

The people of J&K faced bullets but did not deter from exercising their franchise. "Eight hundred people died while facing the militants' challenge during the elections," he said.

Vajpayee who returns to Delhi on October 13 night at the end of his three-nation week-long trip to Cyprus, Denmark and Britain described his tour as "successful".

He said the international community had acknowledged India as an emerging global power.

PTI