Putting an end to the speculation of a possible thaw in the frozen India-Pakistan ties, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday there will be no bilateral engagement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Astana in Kazakhstan this month where the two countries will join as new members.
“No meeting is scheduled either from their side or from our side,” Swaraj said.
It was expected that the two PMs might sit together to work out a solution to resume the bilateral talks that were shelved by New Delhi following the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase last year.
Addressing a Press conference to mark three years of the NDA Government, Sushma claimed there has been no flip flop in India’s Pak policy. “Our Pak policy stands on three pillars — We want to resolve all issues through talks; there cannot be a third party when we talk and talks and terror cannot go together,” she said.
She said India has always made efforts to keep healthy relations with Pakistan but the response from across the border has not been appropriate. “Our gestures of goodwill and out of box idea to improve relations have not been responded in right way,” the Minister said.
In this context, she referred to Modi’s goodwill visit to lahore for Sharif’s birthday and the immediate Pak-sponsored terror attack on Pathankot air base.
Swaraj also rejected Pakistan’s claims that Kashmir issue can be dragged to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Pointing out that on Kashmir standoff India and Pakistan were bound by Simla Agreement and lahore Declaration, she said left no scope for a third party intervention or mediation. Clarifying on the ICJ issue where Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case will come up for hearing on June 8, Swaraj said India approached the top court only on the violation of Vienna Convention and that Kashmir was not an issue that can be dragged there.
Despite Pakistan being its biggest headache, Swaraj said India knows how to deal with it. “We have raised cross border terrorism at all platforms. At the same time we have asked world not to look at Pakistan from India’s prism but from the aspect of international terrorism and see if the wires of global terrorism connected with Pakistan or not. Was Osama bin laden not caught in PakistanIJ” she said.
In the present atmosphere of growing terror attacks, Swaraj called global community to join hands and fight terrorism together. In this context she called about early conclusion of India-backed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).
Meanwhile, rejecting allegations by American President Donald Trump who said India sought billions and billions of dollars from the United States to sign the Paris climate deal, Swaraj said India had signed the agreement neither for greed of money nor out of any fear but because of its own commitment to environment. India is expected to raise several issues, including that of proposed H1B visa cap during Modi’s visit to America this month end. Swaraj said the Government is in talks with the US Congress and Trump administration on the visa matter.
On the issue of China blocking India’s entry to Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Swaraj hoped countries like Russia, which is friend to both India and China, can talk to Beijing to generate support for India. China is the only country blocking India’s entry to NSG and on Sunday its Foreign Office spokesperson li Huilai said the “new issue under the new circumstances (to allow non NPT signatory countries like India) is more complicated that previously imagined.”
On the proposed One Belt One Road plan by China, Swaraj made it clear that India cannot be party to it since one part of it - China Pakistan Economic Corridor - passes through Indian territory, which is a sovereignty issue.