UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28: A day before an important meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted Nawaz Sharif’s offer for a new beginning, but at the same time repeated his accusation that Pakistan continued to be an “epicentre of terrorism”.

This was the third time in a week that the Indian premier hurled incendiary remarks against Pakistan.

Mr Singh’s tirade was in contrast to Prime Minister Sharif’s conciliatory tone the previous day when he made an offer for a new beginning with India in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

Mr Singh, however, used the UN forum to once again accuse Pakistan of sponsoring cross-border terrorism in his country.

“State-sponsored cross-border terrorism is of particular concern to India, also on account of the fact that the epicentre of terrorism in our region is located in our neighbourhood in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Sharif and Mr Singh are scheduled to meet on Sunday with an aim to resume regular talks between the two countries.

In his UN address Manmohan Singh said New Delhi was committed to resolving all issues with Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir through bilateral dialogue on the basis of the Simla agreement.

“However, for progress to be made, it is imperative that the territory of Pakistan and the areas under its control are not utilized for aiding and abetting terrorism directed against India,” he said.

“It is equally important that the terrorist machinery that draws its sustenance from Pakistan be shut down.”

Mr Singh also made it clear that any agreement with Pakistan should be based on its acceptance of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.

“There must be a clear understanding of the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and that there can never, ever, be a compromise with the unity and territorial integrity of India,” he declared.

Mr Singh raised a demand for reforming the United Nations and making India a permanent member of the Security Council.

Pakistan supports the demand for reforms, but opposes creating more permanent members.

Instead, it supports an arrangement that would give representation to various regions.

“The UN Security Council must be reformed and restructured to reflect current political realities. More developing countries should be included as both permanent and non-permanent members,” Mr Singh said.

He said multilateral financial institutions should also enable an enhanced voice for developing countries in their decision-making structures.

Mr Singh noted that Afghanistan was now preparing for a historic political, security and economic transition.

“The international community must support the people of Afghanistan through this transition and beyond in combating terrorism, preserving the progress of the past decade and creating a stable, united and prosperous Afghanistan,’ he said.

Noting that terrorism continued to threaten people across the globe, Mr Singh said: “There can be no tolerance for states sheltering, arming, training or financing terrorists. Nor can they absolve themselves of the responsibility to prevent their territories from being used to launch acts of terrorism.”