This refers to the editorial, “Pakistan shamed at UN” (October 3). India’s frontal attack on Pakistan at the UN General Assembly is a welcome departure from its jaded ‘wait and watch’ policy. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a clear message to Pakistan: Terror and talks cannot go hand in hand. India’s tough stance comes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated efforts to engage with his Pakistani counterpart.
Pakistan’s continuing proximity with China appears to have emboldened it in its nefarious designs in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. China’s pro-activeness in building crucial infrastructure in PoK and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor can have dangerous portents.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s four-point peace policy has no meaning and Ms Swaraj has rightly mooted the only point for dialogue is for Pakistan to abdicate terror and come to the talking table.
Constructive discussion is the only way out to thaw India-Pakistan relations. However, Pakistan’s excessively Kashmir-centric policy, and its repeated cross-border ceasefire violations, have ruined the atmosphere for talks.
As Mr Modi stressed in his address, the United Nations’ reluctance to define terror has taken a toll on world peace. The progress made by the UN in pursuing the 2006 Global Counter Terrorism Strategy is shoddy, to say the least. Though one feels that two countries should have avoided the war of words at a significant global summit, Pakistan’s agenda to hate India has propelled New Delhi to go on the offensive against Islamabad.