Terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand: Nirmala Sitharaman warns Pakistan

Union minister Sitharaman said India respected the ceasefire but will retaliate if provoked.

The government “honours” the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir but will retaliate if Pakistan makes unprovoked attacks in the region, said defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday

Union minister of defence, Nirmala Sitharaman addresses a press conference on the achievements of Ministry of Defence at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi. (Mohd Zakir / HT Photo)

“Terror and talks cannot go hand in hand,” Sitharaman said in Delhi a day after two top commanders of Indian and Pakistan’s border security paramilitaries met on Monday for second time in a week to reinforce a 2003 ceasefire along the Line of Control.

“When it is an unprovoked attack the [Indian] Army was given the right to retaliate. We honour the ceasefire but of course, a margin was given to us when there is an unprovoked attack,” she said at a press conference.

Sitharaman’s statement refers to the government’s decision in May to halt counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan.