Prime Minister Narendra Modi used two global summits on Thursday to excoriate India’s neighbourhood rivals, first targeting Beijing’s muscle-flexing in the South China Sea and then seeking “strongest action” against state-sponsors of terrorism to hit out at Islamabad.
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US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said, “We made it very clear that Pakistan can’t pick and choose which terrorist groups it goes after and it has to go after those groups that seek to do harm to its neighbours and may seek refuge on Pakistani soil”.
Rising export of terror, growing radicalisation through ideology of hatred and spread of extreme violence defines landscape of common security threats to our societies, he said.
He said India and most countries in South Asia were pursuing a peaceful path to economic prosperity, but singled out one neighbouring country. He also said India is committed to supporting realisation of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
“There is one country in India’s neighbourhood”, he said, “whose competitive advantage rests exclusively in producing and exporting terrorism”.
Prime Minister Modi said that he was looking forward to receiving Suu Kyi in Goa for the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit, while asserting that cooperation in disaster manangement would be one of the important element of the Summit given that several countries in South Asia continue to face natural disasters.
It got worse after Mr. Modi weaved into his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort issues related to Pak-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit and alleged human rights violations by the Pakistani forces in the Balochistan Province.
“I request India to add Balochistan to it’s foreign policies, help improve education and completely support the movement of Balochistan freedom from Pakistan”.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi also met United States President Barack Obama.
“Two democracies and a defining partnership of our era!”
“Asean is a key partner for our Act East Policy, which is vital for the economic development of our Northeastern region”, Modi said in a pre-departure statement posted on his Facebook page.
Mr Modi did not name the country he spoke about, but India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of exporting terrorism, especially in divided territory of Kashmir over which the two countries have twice gone to war since they split some 67 years ago.
“Competing geo-politics, traditional and non-traditional challenges threaten peace, stability and prosperity of region”, he said at the Summit, which he was attending for the third time.
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New Delhi elevated its relationship with Hanoi from Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while announcing a $500-million defence credit line to the southeast Asian nation.
