WASHINGTON, Dec 8: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the Pakistani establishment has had historic ties with Lashkar-e-Taiba although now it’s committed to fighting them.

In an interview to CNN on Sunday evening, Ms Rice read out a charge-sheet against the Lashkar, spelling out the reasons for taking action against the group which, she said, was not only involved in the Mumbai attacks but also moved in “the same circles” as Al Qaeda.

Commenting on the interview, diplomatic observers in Washington said it made it obvious that the United States had left no option for Pakistan but to crack-down on the group already declared a terrorist outfit by Washington.

“Well, there have been historic ties. There’s no doubt about that,” said Ms Rice when asked if LeT leaders were trained and supported by Pakistani intelligence agencies.

But she quickly added that she believed Pakistan was no more involved with the group. “Pakistan is a different place now with a civilian government and an army leadership that is working in concert to try to bring an end to extremism within Pakistan,” she said.

“We have to remember that Pakistan itself has been suffering at the hands of extremism. So whatever the history here – and there is a history – the important thing is that Pakistan act against those who used Pakistani soil to perpetrate attacks.”

Even while clearing the Pakistani government of any involvement, Ms Rice used words that raised some doubts, as interviewer Wolf Blitzer also noticed and reminded her.

“I think there’s no doubt that Pakistani territory was used by probably non-state actors. I don’t think that there is compelling evidence of involvement of Pakistani officials,” she said.

“But I do think that Pakistan has a responsibility to act, and it doesn’t matter that they’re non-state actors. There were problems with this from Pakistani territory. There are historic problems from Pakistani territory in this regard.”

Secretary Rice also said that when she visited Islamabad last week she “emphasised to the Pakistani government” that Americans were also killed in this attack and the US government had “a special interest” in this matter because of that.

There’s, however, one issue on which Ms Rice was very positive: that there will be no war between India and Pakistan.

“The relationship between the countries is better (now than before). Our relationship with each of them is better,” she said while explaining why she believed the Mumbai attacks would not lead to a war between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed nations.

“But in fact, the key here is that this investigation needs to go forward. It needs to be transparent. Pakistan needs to act. India and Pakistan need to cooperate,” she said.

Asked if she believed the Pakistani government was going to deal with the terrorists, Ms Rice said: “Well, they are certainly, I believe, committed to doing so. But we are awaiting action, and that action needs to take place soon.”

Secretary Rice also stressed the need for Pakistan to change its entire military strategy, reminding Pakistanis that their “principal problem … is not India.”

She said that the Pakistani army not only realised the importance of this change but was already going through a restructuring process to transform itself into “a kind of army … that is principally (focused on) counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency.”

Ms Rice dismissed a suggestion that President Asif Ali Zardari might not have complete control over all elements of his military and intelligence services.

“We treat the Pakistani government as an integrated and unified government, and I heard nothing in Pakistan that suggested that there were divisions in this regard between the army and the government,” she said.

“This is an elected civilian government; it has a kind of legitimacy that a Pakistani government has not had since 1999. And I believe that it is in actually a stronger position because of that to act.”