‘Talks only when terror stops’
India will not respond to Islamabad’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday in Hyderabad, where she was campaigning for the December 7 Telangana elections. Terror and talks cannot go hand-in-glove, the minister said and added: “The moment Pakistan stops terror activity against India, talks can begin.”
Making India’s stand clear, the minister said the Kartarpur corridor initiative was not linked to talks.
“Unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in SAARC,” Swaraj said. India’s firm response to Pakistan’s invite came hours before Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for Kartarpur corridor.
It will link Gurdwara Darbar Sahib – the final resting place of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, and therefore one of the holiest shrines for the Sikhs – in Pakistan’s Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.
Swaraj said opening the Kartarpur corridor had been a longstanding demand by India. “Pakistan has responded positively for the first time. But that doesn’t mean the bilateral dialogue will start on this.” SAARC groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
On Tuesday, Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Islamabad was inviting Prime Minister Modi to the summit. This isn’t the first time India has refused to attend a SAARC summit. New Delhi pulled out of the 19th SAARC summit that was to be held in Islamabad after Pakistan-based terrorists attacked the Indian Army’s Uri Brigade headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir in September 2016. The summit had to be called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to attend.
Swaraj said Pakistan reciprocated to her efforts to start the “comprehensive bilateral dialogue” with “Pathankot” and “Uri”, referring to terror attacks carried out against Indian installations by terror groups based in Pakistan. “So, we have to see the big picture,” she said.
Bloodshed must end, pain must end, peace must return…We have paid a big price, someone has to douse this fire. This corridor is full of promise, it will bring the two countries close.
The way Sidhu was behaving (at Kartarpur), he has become a willing tool in the hands of Pakistan govt. This shows his nonseriousness over critical ties between India and Pakistan SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL, SAD chief NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU, Punjab local bodies minister