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Shashi Tharoor's take on why India can't talk to Pakistan: ‘The problem is…’
Shashi Tharoor said India wants to be left in peace, to grow and develop but Pakistan doesn't leave it alone.
Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said India can have a dialogue with Pakistan if the latter takes demonstrable action against terrorist infrastructure flourishing on its soil. The Congress MP – who is leading a delegation of politicians that aims to apprise the world about Pakistan's overt sponsorship of terrorism in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor – said the problem in holding talks with Islamabad isn't finding a common language but finding a "common vision for decency and peace".
"This is what we keep telling our interlocutors. If Pakistan is as innocent as they claim to be, why do they give a safe haven to wanted terrorists?... Why are they able to live peacefully, to conduct training camps...and radicalise further people, to equip arms and get people to practice their arms and Kalashnikovs...," Tharoor said in Brazil.
He said India can talk with Pakistan if Islamabad takes concrete action against terrorism.
"You crack down on this infrastructure of terrorism that is visible everywhere in your country. Then, of course, we can talk," he said.
“We can talk to them in Hindustani. We can talk to them in Punjabi. We can talk to them in English. There is no problem in finding common ground with Pakistan. The problem is finding a common vision for decency, for peace. We want to be left in peace, to grow and develop. They don't want to leave us alone. They want to harass us. They want to undermine us,” Tharoor added.
On May 7, India dismantled nine terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir using precision strikes under Operation Sindoor. After Pakistan attacked Indian civilian areas and military installations, Indian armed forces struck airbases deep inside the country. The four-day hostilities concluded after Pakistan's DGMO approached his Indian counterpart seeking a cessation of hostilities.
After Operation Sindoor, India made it clear to Pakistan that the only talks New Delhi can potentially have with it will be on the topics of terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, not on Jammu and Kashmir.
On a question whether nations have been recognising India's stance against terrorism, Shashi Tharoor said his delegation has been to four nations – Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil- so far and "this has been very clear in all the countries we've been to"."And I would say in all four countries, we've had very clear success, if that's the word, I don't like to boast of success. That's for others to judge. But we have got our message through very clearly, including to those who may have had some misunderstandings," he said, referring to Colombia.
With PTI inputs
