An Interior Ministry official source from Islamabad also confirmed that there was no such blackout of Rajnath’s speech as none of the speeches of participating ministers was shown. He added that he would look to underscore the imperative of meaningful cooperation within the region to counter terrorism and organized crime.
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Sharif had earlier called Hizb leader Burhan Wani a martyr. Dozens have been killed in the weeks that have followed, as India struggles to restore normalcy to Kashmir. He said that as far as the Indian government was concerned, there could be no distinction made between a ” good terrorist” or a “bad terrorist”.
Singh had delivered a stern speech asking Pakistan to stop encouraging terror groups and “glorification” of terrorists, while calling for “strongest action” against nations supporting terrorism and their isolation.
Nisar said terrorism was a global problem and this region had been afflicted by this menace.
Asked about the SAARC meet, Mr. Toner said it was important to have a forum where countries can “talk about in a candid way” on the areas of disagreement and concerns and advocated closer cooperation between India and Pakistan to deal with terror threat in both the countries. “I also left. I have no complaints or grudges as I had not gone there to have lunch”, Rajnath Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
“Pakistan has always been supportive of initiatives taken by SAARC to advance its ideals and objectives as enshrined in its charter”, he said.
“One country’s terrorist can not be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone”.
The interior minister also highlighted how Pakistan itself was one of the biggest victims of terrorism. He specifically referred to attacks on Army Public School in Peshawar, the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda and the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Lahore. Moreover, it appears that there can be no substitute for dialogue in bridging the almost beyond-repair attitude of Pakistan. “It is for those who have actually closed the doors and have put conditions and sub-conditions”. Scores of terrorist attacks had taken place in Pakistan and were equally condemnable, if not more so.
He expressed the confidence that the regional organization will continue to move forward with the same spirit in order to achieve the goal of peace and stability in the region. “This also includes ensuring effective measures so that those committing terrorist acts do not escape prosecution and punishment, and are extradited or prosecuted”, he stated.
Shukla said that Pakistan has nothing to do with Kashmir and the thing that needs to be done is that Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) needs to be freed from the control of Pakistan and integrated into Jammu and Kashmir to make it an internal part of India. And they’ve come at a cost of Pakistani lives lost.
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An Islamabad-based news agency claimed that during the Thursday’s meeting of SAARC Interior Ministers which lasted for some three hours, Rajnath went to the toilet for six to eight times.
