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| Pakistan snubbed, talks and terror can’t go together | | Message from Bishkek | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 15: The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek ended last evening. As was expected, PM Narendra Modi used the occasion to reiterate New Delhi’s oft-repeated stand that talks and terror couldn’t go hand-in-hand and if Pakistan was really interested in talks with India calculated to resolving al the outstanding issues between the two nations, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had to take concrete steps against the menace of terrorism that had become a threat to global peace.
“Pakistan is yet to take ‘concrete action’ on India’s concerns and create an atmosphere free of terrorism, which is necessary to facilitate any possible engagement between the two sides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Bishkek.
PM Modi made the remarks when the issue of Pakistan came up during his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek. China is Pakistan’s supporter.
“The Prime Minister did inform President Xi Jinping that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism and that at this stage, we did not see this as happening as yet, and that, therefore, we expect Pakistan to take concrete action on the issues that India has proposed in the areas of concern that we have flagged to Pakistan,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale was quoted as saying.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too was in Bishkek for the summit. The Indian Foreign Office had ruled out the possibility of a bilateral meeting. PM Modi’s remarks made it clear “there is little possibility of an immediate breakthrough in improving relations between the two sides, which nosedived after the suicide attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed at Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14”.
Reports which emanated from Bishkek clearly said that “Modi and Khan didn’t shake hands or exchange pleasantries at a dinner hosted by the Kyrgyz president and at a concert” and that “at both events, the two leaders were seated a few seats apart”.
PM Modi, according to Indian Foreign Secretary, also reportedly told the Chinese President Xi Jinping that “India has a ‘consistent position on Pakistan’, which includes discussing all issues through a bilateral mechanism and looking for peaceful settlement through negotiation”. “We are committed to this process. The Prime Minister recalled that he has made efforts in this regard and these efforts have been derailed,” Vijay Gokhale added.
So the message from Bishkek was loud and clear: No talks with Pakistan. This must have rattled separatists in Kashmir, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and pro-self-rule Mehbooba Mufti and pro-autonomy Farooq Abdullah, who day in and day out vouched for talks between the two countries to end the “Conflict” in J&K. Only on Friday, both Geelani and Mirwaiz had said that time had come to “break the ice”.
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