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| President Mukherjee talks tough, lambasts Islamabad | | Invasion of Keran | | Neha
JAMMU, Oct 9: On October 4 and 5, President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who had also held the Foreign Affairs portfolio during the UPA - I rule for a couple of years, called the Pakistani bluff and named Pakistan, which is being despised by the international community as the epicenter of global terrorism and a threat to world peace. Unlike Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and the Congress party as a whole, President Mukherjee did not mince words. He rejected the oft-repeated claim of Islamabad that it was non-state actors who could be held responsible for some of the terror-related incident in different parts of India and that it believes in friendly relations with New Delhi.
"India wants peace with Pakistan but there can be no compromise with its own territorial integrity," President Mukherjee said while making it loud and clear that the "state-sponsored terrorism from across the border cannot be accepted".
It needs to be underlined that on October 4, President Mukherjee gave an interview to Euronews at Brussels, Belgium, and on October 5, he gave an interview to Turkish newspaper Toda's Zaman at Istanbul, Turkey, where he was on a State visit. It was a comprehensive interview and President Mukherjee used the opportunity to explain as to what he thinks about the menace of terrorism that has been blooding and convulsing the Indian political scene at regular intervals and also causing grave concern at international level.
What exactly did he say during his candid interviews at Brussels and Istanbul? He said that he was not prepared to buy the Pakistani argument that "non-state actors" were behind the terror acts in various parts of India. In fact, he pooh-poohed the spurious Pakistani claim saying "they are not coming from heaven, but from territory under the control of the neighbouring country" (read Pakistan). "Terrorist activities must be curbed. And state-sponsored terrorism can never be accepted. Therefore, repeatedly we are saying, please dismantle the terrorist outfits which are located in your area…Non-state actors who perpetrate terrorism is a word used by Pakistan. It may not be. But non-state actors, that is the phrase they used, then I responded by saying that non-state actors are not coming from heaven. Non-state actors are coming from territory under your control.
And not now, in 2004 Pakistan agreed that their territories will not be allowed to be used by forces inimical to India…India does not have any territorial ambitions and wants peace with its neighbours while maintaining its own territorial integrity". (On January 6, 2004, the then President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf had held out a solemn commitment that he will not allow the Pakistani territory to be used for anti-India activities, that "terrorism shall be eschewed" and that "there shall be no third party mediation.)
President Mukherjee also drew the attention of his interviewer to the Shimla Agreement to put across his point of view succinctly, put things in perspective and educate the public opinion at international level. "In 1971, when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan, India entered into an agreement which is known as Shimla Agreement. Ninety-one thousand imprisoned soldiers, prisoners of war, were returned. This was just to show the goodwill 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 or we do not have any commercial interests…No country can, however, compromise on its territorial integrity. We want to have good relations with our neighbours. When I was Foreign Minister, more than often I used to say that I can change my friends if I like but I cannot change my neighbours if I like. I shall have to accept the neighbour the way he is. He is my neighbour. Whether I like it or not does not matter. Therefore, it is for me to decide whether I live with my neighbour in tension or in peace. We opted for peace. And we have good relations with Nawaz Sharif at the personal level also and Prime Minister is going to meet him. But one point is to be understood. No country can compromise its territorial integrity. That is not possible," he frankly told Euronews correspondent.
The Union President gave an interview at a time when Pakistan has intensified its anti-India activities and disturbed both the international border and the Line of Control in a big way and when the Indian Army is playing a splendid role to evict from and liquidate the Pakistani troops and terrorists in the strategic Keran sector in Kashmir. Our soldiers have been fighting highly trained militants and Pakistani soldiers in Shalbato village along the Line of Control and other areas in the Keran sector for more than 11 days now - the area up in thick forests and treacherous, difficult and rugged mountains. Our brave soldiers have already liquidated more than 15 Pakistani troops/Lashkar terrorists and are now after the remaining intruders. During the past 24 hours, the Indian Army killed seven more terrorists in the Keran sector. There is no doubt that our Army will clear the Keran sector of all the intruders and secure the area for India. The Army has claimed that 30 to 40 terrorists/Pakistani highly trained soldiers are holed up in the Keran sector and all precautions are being taken in the massive counter-infiltration operation as the area of trouble is at the height of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. The Army has cordoned off the terrorists and their movement has been restricted to a limited area.
It is not just that the Pakistani army and Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar and other terrorists have breached the Line of Control in the Keran sector. They have violated ceasefire and breached the Line of Control more than 90 times during the past three months and enacted terror acts in a number of places, including Hiranagar and Samba and brutally murdered a number of Indians, including soldiers, policemen and civilians. According to IB report, Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists were used by the Pakistani army to launch terror attacks in Hiranagar and Samba. Significantly, the anti-India activities have got a boost after Mian Nawaz Sharif took over as Pakistan Premier more than four months ago.
Now that none other than President of the Union, Pranab Mukherjee, has called the Pakistani bluff and exposed its double-speak, it is time for the Indian Foreign Office to refashion its whole policy towards the undependable and bluffer Pakistan and the Defence Ministry and Home Ministry to give a free hand to the Army, BSF, CRPF and similar other paramilitaries so that Islamabad is taught a lesson it deserves. Pranab Mukherjee is not just the Union President. He is also the supreme commander of the three forces - Army, Air force and Navy - and his statement and remarks just cannot be ignored. To ignore the views of President Mukherjee would be to undermine his office. |
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