He will not have any bilateral meeting with his Pakistani counterpart. “Strongest possible steps need to be taken not only against terrorists and terrorist organisations but also those individuals, institutions, organisations or nations that support them”, he said.
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Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh, castigating any support for militants, said that one country’s terrorist can not be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone.
He also called for the isolation of countries or individuals who provide any kind of support, encouragement, sanctuary, safe haven or assistance to terrorists. At the time, Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia criticised the move saying, “The move has accorded recognition that the terrorist attack was caused by non-state actors and that the Pakistan Government was not involved in it… We must have the approach of “zero tolerance” against any type of terrorism”.
SAARC Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa, who belongs to Nepal, said the issues of drugs, terrorism, cybercrime and other global crimes should be addressed immediately.
That rattled the Pakistan home minister. This led to an angry exchange between an Indian official and a Pakistani official.
In fact, Pakistan’s own media failed to telecast the part of Rajnath Singh’s speech in which he denounced terrorism.
They said Singh informed PM about the speech he made at the conference, his interactions on the sidelines with the leaders, and deliberations during the official sessions.
The Indian minister’s criticism was obviously targeted at the Pakistan government.
“It is needless to say Pakistan is ready to engage in any dialogue with any country”.
Singh said the will and the mandate of worldwide community against proscribed and wanted terrorists and their outfits must also be respected and implemented.
In his opening remarks, Nawaz Sharif cited the example of Pakistan’s military operation in the tribal areas to illustrate his country’s resolve to fight terrorism.
“There is no good or bad terrorism”.
Their rivalry has hampered efforts to transform the eight-member SAARC into a useful forum for cooperation in South Asia, which accounts for a fifth of the world’s population but less than a tenth of its economic output.
Meanwhile, Khan said Pakistan was “committed to SAARC processes, and, desires to see it as a successful regional organisation”. Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin was also present during the protests. “We shall have to rise above our national agenda – we have to rise above, may be even on years old held positions, because if we stick to our positions, if we are rigid and the essence of our policy is point scoring, or taking swipes at each other – we will never get to anywhere”.
Members of the Indian media, who had come from New Delhi to report on the conference, were not allowed to cover the speech. Islamabad’s main express highway was blocked by a large number of workers of the Hurriyat Conference.
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A Resulotion to this effect was adopted at the 7th SAARC Interior Ministers meeting, which concluded in Islamabad today. Sharif was echoing a position that many Pakistani officials have put forth in the last few weeks, as India struggles to restore normalcy to Kashmir. However, Islamabad has to be applauded for arranging a fool-proof security to Singh.
