Seeking to draw maximum election-season mileage out of the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, the Congress today described Pakistan as “the Somalia of South Asia”, and blamed the incident on Islamabad’s “long-standing policy” of ceding territory to fundamentalists and the Taliban.

Somalia, one of the most lawless places on the planet, has been without a central government for a couple of years now, with its territory and waters controlled by groups of warlords who sustain themselves largely by hijacking merchant vessels plying in the area.

Tuesday morning’s attack reflected the continuing chaos in Pakistan, and “this is a result of the policies which Pakistan has followed from 1979 to 2009,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters.

“NWFP, Baluchistan, Swat and now Lahore... Pakistan has been ceding its territory to the fundamentalists and the Talibans of the world”, the Congress spokesman said.

Decrying the political leadership of Pakistan, Tewari said, “it is not only a failed state but fast becoming the Somalia of south Asia”.

“It (Pakistan) has become a time bomb which can explode anytime. After 1972 Munich Olympics, this is perhaps the first time that players, who act as a bridge between nations, have been targeted.”

Pakistan, Tewari said, was a nuclear state, and the world needed to ensure that the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil was dismantled.

Addressing reporters jointly with Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee too stressed on the need for the international community to act.

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