NEW DELHI, May 16 (IslamOnline) - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee discussed with colleagues Thursday, May 16, the situation after Tuesday's militant attack near Jammu, killing 34 persons, including soldiers and their family members. Home Minister L K Advani, Defense Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh attended the meeting.

Defense Minister Fernandes, visited Wednesday, May 15, the site of the attack, having cut short his Goa visit, and has been most vocal about a "fitting response."

"It is a situation which calls for punishment to perpetrators. What that punishment should be needs to be deliberated", Fernandes told a press conference Wednesday after visiting the site of attack at Kaluchak and a hospital where the injured were taken.

"We cannot have this kind of terror go unpunished, particularly when there is a global coalition to fight terrorism and we are part of that coalition," he said.

Without naming Pakistan, the Defense Minister said if any member indulges in terrorist activities, then it is for the coalition to decide how to deal with the situation.

Asked whether he meant punishment as "war with Pakistan," Fernandes evaded the answer and said a decision will have to be taken for the punishment. When quizzed further, he said "when the decision will be taken, punishment will be known to all".

The Indian Chief of Army Staff, General S Padmanabhan, too, cut short his Nepal visit and returned to Delhi due to the emergency created by the Jammu attack. On his return he told a TV channel that "the time for action has come."

Prime Minister Vajpayee caused a world-wide scare Wednesday when he used a Hindi word which means 'revenge' while speaking in Parliament. It was later explained to mean 'counter' the terrorist attacks.

Thursday, the ruling party, the BJP, said that "a full-scale war cannot be ruled out against Pakistan if it continued to support terrorists."

BJP spokesperson VK Malhotra said: "War is not ruled out if Pakistan continues to support such attacks against India. With the U.S. appearing to be powerless to stop Pakistan, it is now up to India to take some action."

"ISI [Pakistan military intelligence] agents are being regularly held in Delhi and other parts of the country. This proves that Pakistan has not only failed to stop supporting such terror groups, but is actually encouraging them to launch more offensives against our country," he added.

Criticizing the U.S. for giving financial aid to Pakistan, Malhotra said: "We cannot depend on the U.S. anymore." Accusing the U.S. of having double standards, he said the U.S. had assured India that it would compel Pakistan not to indulge in terrorism. "But it has failed in that effort," he noted. "The U.S. speaks one language on terrorism in Afghanistan, but adopts a different language when it comes to terror attacks in J&K," he added.

Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said today after taking part in a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister LK Advani in New Delhi to review the situation, that "Pakistan is not going to stop the war it has unleashed on India." The government will give its response to Tuesday's terrorist attack in Parliament tomorrow, Friday, Farooq Abdullah added.

U.S. has been pressurizing India to observe restraint. The visiting assistant secretary of state for South Asia, Christina Rocca, is said to have been told by New Delhi that there is a limit to India's restraint. India rejected the U.S. pressure to resume dialogue with Pakistan. Although, it may be confirmed here that a back-door, "Tack II", dialogue between India and Pakistan has already started.

President George Bush Wednesday telephoned Prime Minister Vajpayee to express his condemnation over the "terrible and outrageous" militant attack in Jammu. Bush during his five minute conversation told Vajpayee that he was appalled at the terrorist attacks and expressed understanding at India's distress.

In a related development, senior American military officials have denied unconfirmed reports that members of the U.S. armed forces have been deployed in Kashmir. They added that the U.S. has no plans to fight militants in Kashmir alongside Indian forces despite the continuing military-military exercises between the two sides. This clarification came as commandos of the U.S. and Indian armies continued their exercises in Agra, south of Delhi, Thursday.