Isolate Islamabad at all forums: Gadkari

LONDON: Pakistan’s refusal to accept its role in disturbing peace in India and funding militants in Jammu and Kashmir is a serious challenge and it is necessary to isolate Islamabad at all international forums, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday.

Road transport, highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Indian government has been consistently taking initiatives to resolve all the outstanding regional and bilateral issues with all neighbouring countries in a peaceful manner through dialogue.

“But Pakistan’s intransigence in disturbing peace and tranquillity in the region harbouring terrorist outfits and funding extremists in Jammu and Kashmir is a serious challenge and we need to isolate Islamabad at all international forums,” Gadkari said while addressing the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in London.

Gadkari called upon Britain to support India’s fight against terrorism in South Asia as this “scourge against humanity” was disturbing peace and hampering economic growth in the entire region.

“State-sponsored terrorism with its epicentre in our neighbourhood is assuming alarming proportions and time has now come to take collective punitive actions against the perpetrators harbouring terrorist outfits,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari said the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi believed in peaceful co-existence and all round regional development and progress among the Saarc countries.