Nisar reacts to Sushma’s ‘surprising’ remarks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security czar has strongly reacted to a ‘surprising’ statement of the Indian foreign minister who reportedly said on Sunday that the prime ministers of the two countries enjoyed good relations but some forces didn’t want normalisation of bilateral ties.

“The warmth and ease in relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif can help resolve complex issues,” Sushma Swaraj told a news conference in New Delhi. “[But] there are forces which do not want good relations between the two prime ministers and better ties between the two neighbours.”



Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan took strong exception to Sushma’s remarks calling them ‘surprising’. “Hindu extremist groups like RSS, Shiv Sena and Abhinav Bharat are the biggest hurdle in the way of normalisation of ties as such groups have influence over the Indian government,” he said in a statement on Monday.

“If the Indian foreign minister is serious and determined to having [better] ties with Pakistan, then she should not talk through riddles or try for political point scoring,” he added and asked Sushma to point out which forces were against good ties between Pakistan and India.

The security czar said Premier Nawaz’s relations with any world leader were above his personal relations, and Sushma should not try to portray Nawaz-Modi relations as personal.

Nisar questioned Sushma’s claim that New Delhi was serious in normalising relations with Islamabad. “If the Indian government is serious, then why it has slammed the door shut on bilateral talks with Pakistan,” he added.

The interior minister also criticised Premier Modi for his recent speech in the US Congress. “Each and every word [in his speech] exposed his so-called friendship policy vis-à-vis Pakistan,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2016.