India firm: No talks, no Saarc At Kartarpur, Imran talks peace, but raises Kashmir

Pakistan must stop sponsoring terror first, says Sushma

India on Wednesday lashed out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for raising the Kashmir issue at the ground- breaking ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor, while external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reiterated that there cannnot be any dialogue with Pakistan as long as it supports terrorism, making it clear that India will not attend the Saarc summit in Islamabad.

In New Delhi, the external affairs ministry said it was “deeply regrettable” that Mr Khan “chose to politicise the pious occasion” by an “unwarranted reference to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India”. Instead, India said, Pakistan should act against the terrorism being perpetrated from its soil.

E mph a si sing that the Kartarpur Corridor project between the two countries will not lead to talks unless Pakistan stops sponsoring terror, India rejected the possibility of both a bilateral dialogue with Pakistan and the proposed move to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a Saarc summit that it wants to host in Islamabad.

Ms Swaraj said: “Unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in Saarc.” On Tuesday Pakistan had said it intended

Unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in Saarc — Sushma Swaraj, MEA

The cat is finally out of the bag. Confirming India’s worst fears about Indian Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan being subjected to pro- Khalistan propaganda to spread trouble in Punjab, the US- based pro- Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice ( SFJ) on Wednesday announced that it would hold a proKhalistan convention in Pakistan in November next year at Kartarpur Sahib and “sponsor 10,000 Sikh pilgrims from Punjab” to attend it.

The SFJ said the pilgrims would be briefed about attempts to break Punjab away from India. The SFJ is widely believed to be a stooge of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI which has been involved in attempts to ignite terrorism once again in Punjab.

The announcement is bound to ring alarm bells in the Indian security establishment particularly since the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism and the first Guru of the Sikhs Guru Nanak will be celebrated at Kartarpur Sahib next November for which thousands of Sikh pilgrims from India are expected to visit Pakistan. Guru Nanak had spent the last years of his life in the 16th century at Kartarpur Sahib. Indian security agencies have pointed out that the Pakistani ISI is trying to radicalise Sikh pilgrims and recruit them for the Khalistan cause, hoping that they will spread mayhem when they return.

The announcement came on the day when Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan presided over the ground- breaking ceremony to build a corridor on the Pakistani side from the border to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara for Sikh pilgrims.