Push for regional peace: Indian president accuses Pakistan of exporting terror

FO spokesperson says nations need to work together to defeat the common enemy; toddler dies in Indian shelling.


Our Correspondents/agencies October 05, 2013
“Non-state actors are coming from territory under Pakistan’s control. Pakistan in 2004, had agreed that it will not allow its territory to be used by forces inimical to India but it has failed,” says Indian President. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD:


Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday accused Pakistan of slipping into the dangerous orbit of terrorism and called upon the neighbouring country to stop the export of state-sponsored terrorism to India.


“Terrorist activities must be curbed. And state-sponsored terrorism can never be accepted,” Mukherjee said.

The Indian leader’s remarks came in an interview with Euronews ahead of his visit to Belgium. “Therefore, we have repeatedly been asking (Pakistan) to dismantle the terrorist outfits which are located in their area,” he said.

The Indian president also refuted Pakistan’s claims that it has nothing to do with the militants. “These non-state actors are not coming from the heavens. Non-state actors are coming from territory under Pakistan’s control. Pakistan in 2004, had agreed that it will not allow its territory to be used by forces inimical to India but it has failed”.

Referring to the recent spate of violence on the Line of Control, Mukherjee said that the Indian prime minister in his address to the UN General Assembly extended a hand of cooperation to Pakistan. “The Indian prime minister pointed out that India is ready to cooperate with Pakistan for the restoration of peace, normalcy, and to solve all outstanding issues including the problem of Jammu and Kashmir, through bilateral discussions,” he said in the interview.

“The Shimla agreement which was signed between the then prime minister Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ceded all the occupied territories which Indian Army during the war captured. Ninety-one thousand imprisoned soldiers, prisoners of war, were returned,” he said, adding that the move was to promote goodwill between the nations. “We wanted to prove that in our basic foreign policy we do not have any territorial ambition, we do not have any ambition to export our ideology to any country, we do not have any commercial interests,” Mukherjee emphasised.

“One can change one’s friends but not one’s neighbours and therefore India wants to have good relations with Pakistan,” said the Indian president.

Mukherjee assured that the Indian government was on good terms with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but in the same breath made it clear that India would not compromise on its territorial integrity.

Nations need to work together: FO

Pakistan’s Foreign Office condemned on Friday terrorism in any form and said that nations had to work together to eliminate militancy.

“Nations need to work together to defeat this common enemy,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry in response to Mukherjee’s  interview.

Indian Army shelling kills toddler

Pakistani authorities on Friday accused the Indian Army of cross-border shelling that killed a toddler and wounded five other civilians in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

“A two-year-old boy who was wounded in shelling by Indian troops has died at hospital, while five other wounded persons in Kotli district are still under treatment,” Masood-ur-Rehman, local administration official, told AFP.

He said that three women and two men were also injured in the cross-border shelling in village of Rud Karthar on the Line of Control in Kotli district.

A Pakistani military official also confirmed the death and injuries to the civilians, saying they were the result of mortar shelling by the Indian forces. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2013.

COMMENTS (24)

Sultan Ahmed. | 11 years ago | Reply

It is an acceptable, all the nations move forward with unbreakable consensus to root out the menace of rerrorism, but it is an admitted fact that United States and India do no more except the safety of their particular interests.

Sultan Ahmed. | 11 years ago | Reply

Shimla agreement signed in between the two premiers says, Kashire is disputed and will solved through negotiations.

but Indian leadership in the words as follows, Kashmire is essential part of India and the same can not be discussed.

What they are saying and doing,there is remarkable distance in saying and doing.

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