I told all the dignitaries attending the SAARC meet that terrorism should not be encouraged. Nearly all countries, condemned terrorism in strongest possible term, he said.
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Singh appreciated the unity of the House on the government’s stand on terrorism. The Home Minister was answering questions raised by members of Rajya Sabha about his visit to Pakistan for the seventh SAARC Home Ministers conference.
He admitted that there was an apparent media boycott of his speech and that the Pakistani established failed to respect the protocol and the laid norms. “I did not register any protest in Pakistan on this issue”, he added. Singh also skipped the lunch after the host himself left the venue. But right after extending the invitation, the Minister sat in his vehicle and left. I also left then.
Addressing the conference, Chaudhry Nisar said Pakistan was “committed to SAARC processes, and, desires to see it as a successful regional organisation”.
“The will and the mandate of global community against proscribed and wanted terrorists and their organisations must also be respected and implemented”.
According to official sources, the Home Minister along with his counterparts from the SAARC countries will call on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later in the day, as per tradition.
Sharif’s meeting with a senior Indian functionary came amidst the ongoing strain in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan following the killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen militant Burhan Wani in Jammu and Kashmir on July 8.
Rajnath, who returned from Islamabad on Thursday afternoon, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as soon as he landed in New Delhi and briefed him about the trip.
Stressing for greater regional prosperity and cooperation between South Asian countries, Singh, however, said that mounting threats and terror incidents endanger region’s peace and stability.
He categorically stated that there can be no distinction between what is a good or bad terrorist.
India has delivered a blunt message to Pakistan asking it to stop glorifying terror groups, while also calling for strong action against nations supporting terrorism. There were media reports that Mr Singh’s statement was blacked out in Islamabad. They were reportedly kept at a distance by Pakistani officials, which led to a verbal dual between officials of the two sides.
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Pakistani Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, in his remarks, “drew the attention of SAARC member states to the use of brutal force …against unarmed civilians engaged in a struggle against foreign occupation”, a barely-veiled reference to Kashmir.
