Isolate Islamabad at all forums: Gadkari
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.
Pakistan on Saturday warned India of “unintended consequences” as the two neighbours accused each other of violating a fragile ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
While New Delhi said two civilians — a father and daughter — were killed in Rajouri district in Jammu by mortars fire by Pakistan, Islamabad said “three to eight” people were killed on its territory in shelling by Indian troops.
Pakistan also summoned India’s deputy high commissioner JP Singh to protest the firing by Indian forces along the LoC, the foreign office said in a statement.
“(The) Indian army has been targeting innocent civilians on both sides of line of Control in recent past. Any misadventure by Indian Army across Line of Control will be a miscalculation, shall be responded with full force and could lead to unintended consequences,” the Pakistani military’s media arm said in a statement.
Local media reported that as many as eight people, including five women, were injured in Azad J&K in Indian shelling.
The statement added Pakistani troops effectively tackled the Indian aggression.
“Indian troops resumed shelling at 7am without any provocation, targeting the civilian populations,” Chaudhry Zulqarnain Sarfraz, senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Kotli district was quoted by a local newspaper.