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Terrorism India's single point, give it up and come to talk : Sushama Swaraj tells Pakistan

by IBNS 02 Oct 2015, 12:19 am

New York, Oct 2 (IBNS) In a strong rebuttal of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's speech and his four-point suggestion, External Affairs Minister SUshma Swaraj on Friday said India has only point-stop terrorism- before holding talks between the two nations.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan for perpetrating terrorism, Swaraj, in her speech at the UN General Assembly,  said : "The future of the international community is now dependent on how we respond to the greatest threat that we face today -- Terrorism."

"Countries that support terror must be made to pay a heavy price," she said. 

 Swaraj said the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks are walking free. "New attacks are taking place. Recently we have caught two Pakistani terrorists alive," she added.

 "These terror attacks are meant to destabilise India and legitimise Pakistan's illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir."

Her speech came two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue at the same venue and suggested a four-point guideline for peace initiative between the two countries.

But stressing that terrorism which Pakistan is allegedly perpetrating is the sole concern for India Swaraj said : "India does not have four points, it has one : Give up terrorism and we will sit and talk."

"Talks and terror cannot go together," she said. If the response is "serious and credible", India is prepared to address all outstanding issues through a bilateral dialogue.

 Sharif's four-point "peace initiative" included demilitarisation of Kashmir and an unconditional mutual withdrawal from Siachen Glacier. In his address on Wednesday, he had also said non-resolution of the Kashmir issue was a failure of the United Nations.

In a robust rebuttal, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Sharif of misusing the global forum to "distort reality and portray a false picture of the challenges in our region."

Over the weekend, Modi, in an address to the Indian community in California's San Jose, had described terrorism as one of the biggest threats to the world. 

Speaking at  the UN, he said, "They can't distinguish between good terrorism and bad terrorism in our world. Terrorism is terrorism."