Indian politicians gain votes through anti-Pakistan propaganda: Tariq Fatemi

Special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs says Pakistan is 'done using hate against India'

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi said by propagating anti-Pakistan sentiments, political parties in India assume that they can make massive strides in elections and can garner votes.

In an exclusive interview to BBC Urdu, Fatemi said that such propagation proves to be the biggest obstacle in improving Pakistan and India relations.

“It is stopping the two from overcoming their longstanding enmity,” Fatemi said.

Further, he said that there is no political party or leader in India believes in developing regional cooperation with Pakistan.

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"In India, many politicians believe that if they criticise Pakistan, they will get more votes," he said.

Fatemi said that during elections in Pakistan, politicians did not use negative slogans about India to campaign, whilst on the other hand, Indian politics still revolves around India-Pakistan rivalry.

“The situation in Pakistan is different; politicians are done using hate against India. Our political practices, in comparison, are more responsible. I pray that India also responds to us with maturity,” he said.

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Fatemi said that this particular attitude from Indian politicians has become the reason why relations between the two countries have worsened.

"There is no doubt about the fact that we are disappointed with them. We believe that both countries will be at an advantage if we begin negotiation talks,” the special assistant to PM Nawaz said.

“We started the initiative by sending them the invite, now we will not take the next step,” he added.

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He stated that the situation has become so bad the Indian Defence are giving open threats that they will carry out acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

Earlier, on May 23, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that India will use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries. In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Parrikar’s statement confirms Pakistan’s apprehensions that India is involved in terrorism in Pakistan.

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“We should get one thing clear; Pakistan knows how to defend itself and will not be intimidated by any kind of threats. We are not afraid of such threats and neither can we be provoked,” Fatemi said.

Moreover, the special assistant on foreign affairs said that the government has never stated that it will carry out an act of terrorism against India.

“Yes we did blame RAW and Indian agencies, but we have substantial proof to back our claims. However, we never stated that we will ‘terrorise’ India,” he said.

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Fatemi slammed ‘international media propaganda’ stating that Pakistani security forces are against friendship with India.

"Pakistan politicians, government agencies and NGOs are all on board to improve relations with India,” he said.

This article originally appeared on BBC Urdu.