The UN Security Council's resolution banning the Jamaat-ud-Dawah had made it "absolutely necessary" for Pakistan to take action against the group, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.

"The action was absolutely necessary because once the UN has passed a resolution, as a part of the international community, you've got to follow it," he said, defending the government's crackdown on the Jamaat in the face of mounting criticism from Islamic groups like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

Malik told Dawn News channel that the government had banned the Jamaat and 53 people had been arrested as part of the crackdown.

Sixteen schools run by the banned groups had been taken over by the government, he added.

Asked if there was evidence of the Jamaat's links to terrorist groups, Malik said the issue was not solely one of evidence and proof but of extremism affecting both Pakistan and India alike.

"The question is what's happening to us (because of) the extremists...don't forget we are suffering (at) the hands of terrorists and extremists and India has also suffered," he said.

"And there is a common enemy called the terrorist who has got no humanity. They know no boundaries, no religions. So on the basis of that, I think a criminal is a criminal, whether he is from India or Pakistan. I think we both need to sit, work together to bring the culprits to justice," Malik said.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said war was not a "solution to the present crisis" between Pakistan and India and expressed confidence that as "responsible states" both countries would refrain from using force.