New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday denied any “flip-flop” in India’s policy towards Pakistan and said no talks can be held as long as Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was walking free.
Swaraj said there were no talks planned with Islamabad as of now and also discounted media reports about cricket diplomacy being launched between the two nations.
Asserting that the government has a “very clear Pakistan policy”, Swaraj said the two countries had decided on three principles for talks when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had come here last year. These principles were also part of the Shimla and Lahore declarations. “First, we are ready to resolve each issue through peaceful dialogue. Second, the talks will be between the two countries –us and Pakistan. Neither a third country will mediate nor there will be a third party. Third, an atmosphere of harmony should be created by keeping away terror and violence. “These are not decided today…We have told Pakistan repeatedly that talks can take place based on these three principles,” she told a press conference, noting that these were the principles agreed upon by the two countries in Shimla and Lahore declarations. The minister said no engagement was scheduled when asked if any meeting was proposed between India and Pakistan in the near future. “Now if Lakhvi is out and he is released….and if Pakistan thinks that there is an atmosphere of harmony, will India accept it,” she added. “There is no flip-flop in our policy. We had decided on three principles for talks when Sharif had come here to participate in the swearing-in ceremony (of Narendra Modi as PM). Since then we have been following those three principles,” she said.
In a major press conference, on completion of the government’s one year in office, Sushma Swaraj also discounted any speculation of being overshadowed by a “proactive PM” or of any change in India’s Palestine policy.
She answered a range of questions, ranging from why she kept a low profile, to the opposition criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent foreign travels, to the testy India-Sri Lanka fishermen issue.
She also highlighted the government’s diplomatic outreach, saying that between Modi, herself and minister of state V.K. Singh, the three had interacted with 101 nations, including by visits, and interactions on the sidelines of multilateral events.
On the Sri Lanka fishermen issue, she spoke of the “very provocative statements” that emanate from Colombo on the issue and said India plans to convey that “such provocative statements vitiate the atmosphere and that we should first keep the atmosphere conducive before discussing the fishermen issue”. She also revealed that Modi during his China visit had raised “very strongly” the issue of the China-Pakistan economic corridor and told Beijing that it was “unacceptable”.
On the 39 Indians abducted in Mosul in Iraq a year ago, Sushma Swaraj said she has been following up on the issue and hoped to bring back the men soon. “My only regret is that while we have evacuated thousands of our nationals from Iraq, Ukraine, Yemen, Libya, the 39 Indians remain in Iraq. I feel my wait will end very soon and we will be successful in bringing them back,” she said. She said she has received written messages from eight sources of the men being alive and had conveyed it to the prime minister and her colleagues Arun Jaitley and Harsimrat Badal.
On working with Modi, she said she values a proactive prime minister. “A proactive PM is a support, not a challenge. I take it as a support,” she said. “The prime minister has not put any restrictions on anyone, least of all me.”
To the opposition criticism of Modi’s foreign visits, terming him an “NRI PM”, she said, “the perception is wrong” and added that there was not much difference in the number of visits by Modi and that by former prime minister Manmohan Singh.
