Sushma Swaraj told the UN General Assembly that Pakistan’s charge about India shying away from talks is not justified, and it is impossible to speak to a nation where proclaimed terrorist Hafiz Saeed roams around freely. Sushma Swaraj said that a key reason for calling off talks with her Pakistani counterpart was the news of the killing of three Indian policeman “within hours of our acceptance”, even as she accused Islamabad of expertise in “verbal duplicity”. Sushma Swaraj on Saturday asked world leaders how can talks can be pursued in the midst of “terrorist bloodshed” with a nation that “glorifies killers.
“We have not sabotaged negotiations with Pakistan. We began talks with them because we believed it necessary. They were stalled only because of Pakistan’s own behaviour,” she said. She asserted that all Indian governments, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, had begun talks many times. “India accepted the proposal of talks by Imran Khan but, within hours of its acceptance, news came that terrorists had killed three Indian jawans, she said.
This is the first time that Indian government has publicly clarified that the talks were cancelled over the killing of three members of Jammu and Kashmir state police. The Union Minister also drew a parallel between the United States and India as fellow-victims of terror. “We all hoped that the 21st century would be one of peace. But the 9/11 and 26/11 terror strikes occurred almost immediately afterwards,” she said.
Even after Bin Laden was killed by US special forces at Abottabad, Pakistan “continued to behave as if nothing had happened”, said Swaraj. “Pakistan’s commitment to terrorism as an instrument of official policy has not abated one bit. Neither has its belief in hypocrisy”, she added.
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