Our Restraint Is Not Weakness, India Tells Pak
India has expressed concerns over Pakistan’s inaction to punish perpetrators of 26/11 attacks including Hafiz Saeed, warning that its restraint should not be confused with weakness and that it is ‘very, very difficult’ to restart composite dialogue at this stage, reported PTI.
“… please realise that there are groups in Pakistan that continue to follow an agenda of violence, of hatred,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was quoted as saying at the Woodrow Wilson Centre.
She made the remarks while answering a query from a Lahore-based Pakistani national that why India was declining to resume composite dialogue with Pakistan which itself was a victim of terrorism. She is currently on a six-day visit to the US.
“I did not want to bring the name of Hafiz Saeed and Jamaat-ud-Dawah and the LeT … we feel (they) continue to roam, to speak, to be allowed unhindered access to media, to channels to communicate that agenda (of violence).. that effects us, our people are concerned about it,” Rao was quoted as saying.
“The general feeling in India right now is: we have suffered too much for too long,” she was quoted as saying.
“It is very, very difficult to be convinced in such a situation that we should set aside these concerns and just move on. And that is why, I said when you talk of resuming composite dialogue (it) becomes very, very difficult to do that in the current situation,” Rao was quoted as saying.
However, Rao said that door for talks with Islamabad had never been closed, report said.
“India has always condemned terrorist attack inside Pakistan,” Rao was quoted as saying, “We have never in any way condoned that. We condemn it whole heartedly.”
Earlier, she said in her address that composite dialogue with Pakistan could not be started till Islamabad guaranteed that terrorism can be controlled by its officials, said report.
“Today, Pakistan claims that it is in no position to give us such a guarantee that terrorism can be controlled by its authorities. In such a situation, the people of India who are already bitterly affected by the series of terrorist attacks directed against them, can hardly be expected to support the resumption of a full-blown Composite Dialogue with Pakistan,” Rao was quoted as saying.
Despite the barefaced and malignant nature of the threats India is confronted with, she said, New Delhi has genuinely attempted many times to restore trust and confidence, said report.
“Aggressive pronouncements by persons identified by the world as terrorists continue to be made openly against India. Distinctions made between the various terrorist outfits are now meaningless, since they are now in effect fused both operationally and ideologically,” she was quoted as sayaing.
“We have consistently emphasised the need for governments concerned to act decisively to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and to effectively deal with groups that perpetrate it.”
“Our restraint should not be confused with weakness or unwillingness to act against those,” Rao was quoted as saying, “that seek to harm our people, create insecurity and hamper our developmental goals.”
“It is also important that there are strict accountability criteria that apply to defence assistance rendered to Pakistan for operations against terrorists and insurgents on the border with Afghanistan,” Rao was quoted as saying.
“New Delhi’s past experience regarding such assistance has taught it to be vigilant to the possibility of the aid being used for purposes that generate tension and hostile actions against India,” the Foreign Secretary was quoted as saying.
