Pak must shun terror for talks with India: PM Modi

Brushing aside all frostiness between both the neighbouring nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked Pakistan to walk away from terror if it wants to have a dialogue with India. 

Outlining his approach for an integrated neighbourhood, Modi said his vision the country’s neighbourhood puts premium on peaceful and harmonious ties with the entire South Asia. 

“But, India alone cannot walk the path of peace. If Pakistan wants to join the peace journey with us it must walk away from terror,” he said while addressing the participants at the government’s geo-political flagship initiative “Raisina Dialogue-II”. 

He also recalled several initiatives taken by him to neutralise the ties with Pakistan which included the travel issue to Lahore. 

There is a deep chill in Indo-Pak ties due to series of cross-border strikes including in Pathankot and Uri by Pakistan-based terror groups. Modi also asserted that India’s belief in delinking terrorism from religion and rejecting artificial distinctions between good and bad terrorism are now a global talking point. 

“And those in our neighbourhood who support violence, perpetrate hatred, and export terror stand isolated and ignored,” he said. Referring to India’s ties with China, Modi, at the opening of the three-day Dialogue, said it was not ‘unnatural’ for two large neighbouring powers to have some differences but both sides should show sensitivity and respect for each other’s concerns and interests. 

“I see the India and China’s development as an unprecedented opportunity for both and also for the world. In the management of our relationship for peace and progress, both our countries need to show sensitivity and respect for each other’s core concerns and interests,” Modi said, adding that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have sought to tap the vast area of commercial and business opportunities in the relationship. 

Asserting that the century belongs to Asia, he said the sharpest trajectory of change is taking place in the continent and there are large and vibrant pools of progress and prosperity that dot the landscape of this nation.