Indian PM Modi accuses Pakistan of promoting terrorism

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistan of creating “nuisance” and “constantly” troubling India by promoting terrorism, the Press Trust of India reported on Sunday.

His latest outburst against Pakistan came during his address at the Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in Dhaka. The Indian prime minister was on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, where he vowed to jointly combat terrorism in the region with the country, which gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.

“Pakistan constantly disturbs India, creates nuisances, stokes terrorism... terror incidents keep on happening," Modi said in his address in Hindi to the Dhaka University students.

Recalling that 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war were in India’s captivity during the 1971 war, Modi said: “If we had a diabolic mindset, we don’t know then what decision we would have taken. We thought of Bangladesh’s progress and we sent back the 90,000 soldiers,” he claimed.

“Terrorism has no boundaries. India has been troubled by it for the last 40 years. So many innocent people have died and what did those associated with terrorism gain and what have they given to the world...  terrorism has no values, no principles, no traditions and it has only one motive and that is enmity against humanity,” Modi continued.

China too did not escape the Indian PM verbal target, though obliquely. He said there was no place for expansionism in today's world.

“The world has changed, there was a time when may be expansionism was used to be the symbol of a country's power as to which one is expanding how much and reaching which place... but times have changed. Now in this era there is no place for expansionism and the world only wants development,” he added.

In a joint declaration issued on the last day of the Indian PM’s maiden visit to Bangladesh, both countries reaffirmed their “unequivocal and uncompromising position against extremism and terrorism in all forms and manifestations”. The two sides also committed to cooperate with each other by sharing information about groups and persons indulging in terrorism.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.