External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj coming down heavily on Pakistan said that terror and talks cannot go together.
Speaking at an event last night, Swaraj said that she wants Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to know that we want action, not talks. “We are ready to engage with Pakistan in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” she said urging Pakistan to create an atmosphere to hold talks.
Taking a dig at the so-called liberal voices who hailed Imran Khan as the paragon of peace, Swaraj said, “These voices which are raised in our country that Imran Khan is a great statesman, that Imran Khan is a generous person, he wants peace. I want to say that if Imran Khan is so generous, then he should hand over Masood Azhar to us and prove his generosity.”
She even called out Pakistan’s lack of action against the Pulwama terror attack which claimed lives of 40 CRPF soldiers. “Following the attack, your foreign minister said Masood Azhar is unwell. That he is so unwell, he cannot step out of the house. And few days later, your army spokesperson said that Masood Azhar is not in pakistan. Even Osama Bin Laden was not in Pakistan. Kasab? Who Kasab? Every time you disown your terrorists but eventually they are found on your soil only. How much would you like?” Swaraj said. She added that normalcy can be reached in the relationship of India and Pakistan only if Pakistan starts some action against terror camps which carry out attacks against India.
Accusing Pakistan of trying to misguide the international community, Swaraj said, “We waited for ten days. The international community also asked us to take immediate action against Jaish-e-Mohammad since they claimed responsibility. The airstrikes happened on 26th, after over 10 days. The airstrikes had clear mandate that no civilian should die and no military personnel should be injured. Only the terror organisation which has claimed repsonsibility of Pulwama terror attack should be targetted. And that is what happened. No civilian was killed. However, a day later Pakistan retaliated. Were they retaliating on behalf of a terror organisation?
You support terror organisation, fund them, nurture them and when they carry out terror attacks, instead of taking action against them, you come after the victim country which is taking action against them? Who are you fighting for? Those terrorists?” she said.
