Washington: The global war against terrorism can be won only by abandoning double standards and ensuring that the fight against the scourge is not a cloak for a political, military or economic agenda, Chairman of Planning Commission and member of the National Security Council K C Pant said today (November 21).

Pant, who was speaking to American foreign policy analysts in Washington, said that effective co- operation, will come about only when double standards are abandoned and the war on terrorism is not sacrificed at the altar of short-term political, military or economic considerations.

It is futile to talk of good and bad terrorists, Pant emphasized, pointing out that "in over twenty years of tackling a variety of terrorist challenges, fomented and supported for the most part from across our borders, India has lost nearly 65,000 of its citizens to this menace."

India, he said, has combated terrorism while maintaining civil liberties for the most part, emphasising religious tolerance and preserving her cultural diversity.

"We also realise", he said, "that it is precisely because of this that we are the prime targets. But, at the same time, we are determined not to be thrown off course in spite of the worst that the terrorists and their State sponsors can do.

PTI