Contemporary epicentre of terror: Naidu on Pak

NEW DELHI: Pakistan is the “contemporary epicentre” of terrorism and must give up its policy of cross-border terrorism against its neighbours to earn the confidence of the world community, India’s vice president M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.

Naidu made the remarks while addressing the 18th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku. The vice president is representing India at the summit after Prime Minister Narendra Modi opted to skip the meeting.

Relations between India and Pakistan have plummeted since February, when Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out a suicide attack at Pulwama, and hit a fresh low after New Delhi scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August.

Describing terrorism as the

“single most destructive threat” to world peace and security, Naidu said Pakistan is its “contemporary epicentre”.

There is “deep concern” in the larger region for the behaviour of Pakistan, which “clearly needs to do much more to earn the confidence of the international community”, he said. “It must decisively abjure terrorism – for its own good, for that of its neighbours and for the good of the world,” he added.

Naidu called on India’s partners in NAM to forge a united front against terror and to show a clear commitment to “zero tolerance” for the menace.

“The only way to fight menace is to strengthen and implement, without exception, all existing international laws and mechanisms to combat terrorists and their enablers...,” he said. HTC