Candles in front of a portrait of Benazir Bhutto at a prayer ceremony in Lahore. (Reuters)

Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec. 27: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today accepted that his country was afflicted by the “cancer” of terrorism but asked that he be given time to wipe it out.

“We have non-state actors. Yes, they are forcing an agenda on us... we will cure it, we will solve it, we will correct it,” he told a gathering at Naudero in Sindh on the first death anniversary of his wife Benazir Bhutto.

“We intend to overcome our weaknesses but we shall do it in our own time and not because of your (India’s) demarche…. We will do it at an opportune time, right time. We will choose our time.”

Zardari’s comments came a day after allies China and Iran dialled Pakistan. India had earlier requested the foreign ministers of the two countries, as well as Saudi Arabia, to persuade Pakistan to act against the terrorists behind the attack on Mumbai.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight spoke to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and told him Pakistan had to do more to crack down on terror groups operating from its soil that are targeting India.

“Pakistan is not a failed state. We have a cancer in our country and we are the medicine,” Zardari said, adding democracy was “part of the cure”.

His remarks come in the backdrop of a growing perception that the Pakistan army is tightening its grip on the civilian government.

Zardari also sought to lower the rising bilateral temperatures after reports yesterday that Pakistan had begun shifting some of its troops from the Afghan to the Indian border.

“We do not talk of war or vengeance, the whole region will suffer in case of war…. We have shortcomings. We need help,” Zardari said.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had said the country would look on any “surgical strike” by India as “an act of war”.

India stuck to its stand that Pakistan take immediate action to weed out terror camps from its soil. It reiterated that drumming up “war hysteria” was Pakistan’s diversionary tactic to avoid addressing the real issue.

“No one wants war. The real question is not about a military build-up either. But we want action against terrorist camps and militant groups operating from Pakistan territory,” a foreign ministry source said.

The Indian position was conveyed to Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir last night. Indian high commissioner Satyabrata Pal also made it clear that Delhi was not preparing for any military offensive.

The Dawn newspaper reported that Tehrik-i-Taliban (Pakistan Taliban) had welcomed the troop shift from the Afghan border. Maulvi Omar, a spokesman, said: “It is our responsibility to protect the country’s western border and we will stop infiltrations into Afghanistan.” The Taliban would not launch any fresh attack on the security forces, he said.