The official claimed only the inaugural session was shown live on Pakistani TV when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and interior minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan made their welcome speeches. Speaking at a press conference later, Chaudhry Nisar said he had received a message from the Indian minister asking whether he (Nisar) would be coming to the lunch. He said that there were “no good terrorists and bad terrorists”.
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Hitting directly at Pakistan’s involvement in sheltering terror and glorifying Kashmiri terrorists, Rajnath said: “It also needs to be ensured that terrorism is not glorified and is not patronised by any state”.
The will and the mandate of the global community against proscribed and wanted terrorists and their organisations must be respected and implemented, he said in a clear reference to such terrorists finding safe haven in Pakistan. The Interior Minister later said Singh had told him he would only attend the lunch if it was attended by Khan.
The whirlwind visit of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Pakistan only resulted in worsening the Pakistan-India tension instead of providing a respite amid the bloodshed in Kashmir.
“Merely strong condemnation of such terrorist attacks is not enough”.
“We have not been able to benefit from the Convention, as some Member States are yet to ratify it. I would urge remaining Member States to consider ratifying the Convention at the earliest”, he said. “They’ve restored government control to parts of Pakistan that were used as terrorist safe havens for years”, said Toner, in reply to a question that whether the USA government was satisfied with Pakistan as far as fighting against terrorism was concerned. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, the four countries recognised the serious threat of terrorism and extremism to regional stability, and they agreed to set up a “four-country mechanism” for intelligence sharing and training.
“We, in fact, view it as a positive”, he added.
He said that the attack on Charsadda University, the Army Public School and Gulshan Iqbal Park of Lahore took hundreds and hundreds of lives including those of children and teachers.
“You have certain reservations about us and we have certain reservation about you”, he added. “The use of blame game has not benefited anyone for the past six decades”.
Meanwhile, India has repeatedly asked Pakistan not to meddle in its internal affairs.
“How these matters can be resolved with negotiations, and discussion”.
Making it a point to mention Pathankot terror strike alongside the “cowardly terrorist attacks” in Dhaka and Kabul, the home minister said terrorism poses the biggest challenge to peace in the Saarc region. He called upon the countries from the region to differentiate between terrorism and freedom movements, sanctified by the UN Security Council, and observed that violence against freedom fighters in a disputed territory under Indian occupation was state-sponsored.
Pakistan home minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The two leaders who came face-to-face at the venue barely shook hands or exchanged pleasantries even as the host remained at the entrance receiving dignitaries.
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The meeting was attended by the Home Ministers of Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka and Deputy Home Ministers of Afghanistan, Maldives and Home Secretary of Nepal. This agenda is adopted at the 7th SAARC Interior Ministers meeting, which concluded in Islamabad today.
