India’s diplomatic outreach with international community has helped it gain more support both within the South Asian region on the “surgical strikes” conducted by Indian Army on terror launching pads along the line of Control.
A day after “close neighbour” Bangladesh announced its support for the Indian action, Afghanistan, Sri lanka, Maldives and South Korea backed India, while China and United Nations asked India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.
At the same time, Russia asked Pakistan to stop the activities of terror groups on its soil. Russia recently conducted joint military exercise with Pakistan, and its reaction is seen as a snub to Islamabad.
“We are concerned with the aggravation lately of the situation along the line of Control between India and Pakistan. We are calling on the parties not to allow any escalation of tension and to settle the existing problems by political and diplomatic means through negotiations. We stand for decisive struggle against terrorism in all its manifestations. We expect that the Government of Pakistan should take effective steps in order to stop the activities of terrorist groups in the territory of the country,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday.
Standing firmly behind New Delhi, Afghanistan termed India’s action as an act of self-defence which it was justified to carry out if countries provide safe havens to militants. He added time has come to take tough and risky decisions to free the South Asian region from terrorism as “patience is wearing thin nowadays.”
“We hope that no one will allow its territory as a safe haven for terrorists to be used against neighbouring countries. If terrorist groups continue to exist without action, no wonder self-defence against such terrorist groups will be in the form of action that we saw,” Afghanistan ambassador to India Shaida Abdali said indicating towards Pakistan. He added there was “no doubt” that some countries had “the double standard approach” towards terrorism.
Afghanistan, like India, too has been a victim of Pak sponsored terror acts, which is why it along with Bangladesh, and Bhutan pulled out from the SAARC summit to be hosted by Pakistan in November. “Being selective against terrorism, and that continues to exist, can make those who are affected to decide whether we should continue our business as usual or whether we should think and rethink on our approach to regional affairs or the mechanism that we have, especially SAARC. Afghanistan, because of the evolving security situation that is very serious, will not be able to attend,” Abdali said.
While condemning terrorism, lanka on Friday said the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the Summit in Islamabad. “Peace and security are essential elements for the success of meaningful regional cooperation for the benefit of the people of South Asia. As a founding member of SAARC, committed to regional cooperation, Sri lanka hopes that the steps required to ensuring our region’s peace and security will be taken to create an environment that is conducive for the pursuit of regional cooperation. Sri lanka condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stresses in this regard, the need to deal with the issue of terrorism in the region in a decisive manner,” the lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Sources in Maldives Government while condemning Uri terror attack said the country stands with India in its fight against terrorism. “We want to work closely with India on counter terrorism. Maldives wants conducive atmosphere for SAARC Summit to happen,” sources said. South Korean President Park Geun-hye also backed India’s action against terror groups after lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is on a tour to Seoul, explained India’s stand against terrorism and its Thursday’s surgical strikes.
Meanwhile, China and UN tried to pacify both sides asking India Pak to exercise restraint. “As a shared neighbour and friend to both India and Pakistan we are concerned about continuous confrontation and tensions between India and Pakistan. We call on all relevant parties to exercise restraint and refrain from actions that would escalate tension,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Sheung said in Beijing.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN is following the tense situation along the loC with concern. “The UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan, UNMOGIP, is aware of the ceasefire violations and right now is liaising with the concerned authorities to obtain further information,” Dujarric said.
Pakistan Government did not allow Indian diplomat to participate in Asian Trade Promotion Forum CEO meet in lahore by withholding travel permission of the Trade Counsellor of Indian High Commission in Islamabad. The 29th ATPF CEO meet was held in lahore on 24-26 Sept and ITPO had requested the Indian High Commission to depute an official to the event because it was not possible for ITPO to send an officer from India.