Terror, talks can’t go together: BJP

Bengaluru, April 3: Stressing that terror and talks cannot go together, the BJP Friday said India’s engagement with Pakistan would be based on strategic interests and enunciated the Modi government’s foreign policy pillars or “Panchamrit” of dignity, dialogue, security and shared prosperity and culture.

In the first- ever separate resolution on foreign policy brought in its national executive here, the BJP attacked the previous Congress- led government, saying “a cursory glance at the ‘ lost decade’ of the UPA reveals retreat and a loss of direction in engaging with neighbours, hamhanded diplomacy vis- àvis Pakistan and a blindspot in our foreign policy to the Indian Ocean island states.”

It lauded the Narendra Modi government’s initiatives taken on foreign policy, including the Prime Minister and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s continuous engagements with world leaders in the last 10 months.

On Pakistan, the resolution said, “We have laid out a clear policy for building peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan, predicated on an end to terrorism.”

“There can be no compromise with terrorism. There can’t be any duplicity towards a problem that has become a regional crisis and is fast becoming an international nightmare.”

“All outstanding issues with Pakistan can be resolved through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” it said.

It said the national ambition is “Bharat’s rise as a strong and respected world power” for which the government has adopted “Panchamrit”.