​‘India Tried Dialogue, Onus Now on Pakistan’: Modi Govt Slams Islamabad over Terror, Attacks

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government slammed Pakistan before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, saying all initiatives taken by India for resumption of dialogue with the neighbouring country were responded with acts of cross-border terrorism and violence against India, and hence Pakistan remains an exception to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ in the region.

The report was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after detailed deliberations with the Foreign Ministry officials over the past three years. The government has cited the attacks on the Pathankot Airbase in 2016, the Uri Army camp attack the same year and the Pulwama attack in 2019 as Pakistan’s acts of cross-border terror. “India has repeatedly called upon Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks to justice. However, there has been no progress, even after all the evidence has been shared with the Pakistani side,” the government told the committee.

The Modi government has also cited its “proactive outreach with the international community” to successfully thwart Pakistan’s attempts to “present an alarmist situation of the region; interfere in internal affairs of India; and internationalise bilateral issues”.

This parliamentary committee is headed by senior BJP leader PP Chaudhary and has many members of the opposition parties like Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Misha Bharti, Ranjan Gogoi and Deepender Singh Hooda.

In its recommendations, the committee has said India should continue to remain active and be fully prepared to expose Pakistan’s act of cross-border terrorism and violence against India at the United Nations (UN) and various multilateral and regional fora and “counter their raising the issue of Kashmir appropriately”.

The committee has, however, urged the government to consider the establishment of economic ties with Pakistan “if they come forward and work towards broader people-to-people contacts in view of the cultural commonalities and civilizational linkages between our two countries and no feeling of enmity amongst citizens of both the countries”.

“With the exception of Pakistan, the central principle of Neighbourhood First Policy is to accord the greatest attention and emphasis to these countries in our diplomatic efforts,” the government told the committee. “Any meaningful dialogue with Pakistan can only be held in an atmosphere free from terror, hostility and violence. The onus is on Pakistan to ensure such a conducive atmosphere,” the government said.

OVT CITES PATHANKOT, URI, PULWAMA ATTACKS

The government told the committee that in 2014, PM Modi extended an invitation to the then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony in May 2014. India’s External Affairs Minister visited Islamabad in December 2015, and proposed the resumption of a Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.

“Unfortunately, all these initiatives have been responded with acts of cross-border terrorism and violence against India, including the cross-border terror attack on Pathankot Airbase on 2 January 2016; attack on Army Camp in Uri in August 2016; and terror attack on the convoy of Indian security forces in Pulwama by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on 14 February 2019,” the government has cited.

The government said that for strengthening of border with Pakistan under the Neighbourhood First Policy, in a significant development, the Director Generals of Military Operation (DGsMO) of India and Pakistan issued a joint statement on February 25, 2021 to strictly observe all agreements between the two countries on ceasefire and cross-border infiltration along the LoC and other sectors. “But Pakistan again upped the ante in terms of cross-border infiltrations and ceasefire violations from July 2021 onwards,” the government has told the committee.

The government continues to consistently raise the issue of Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism and terrorist infiltration in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora and has briefed the international community at large on the continued concerns of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, the government said. “Many terrorist entities and individuals, who find shelter in Pakistan and also engaged in terrorism against India, have been proscribed by the UN, the European Union and other countries,” the government said.