New Delhi : Rejecting criticism that it failed to secure a reference to cross-border terrorism in the BRICS declaration, Government said the Summit recognised there was no bigger global challenge than state-sponsored and state-protected terrorism and it cannot be “business as usual” on this front.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the threat of terror “featured strongly” in the narrative of the recently concluded Summit in Goa and there was recognition that the international community can only ignore it at its peril.
In clear reference to Pakistan, Swaraj said there is a need to extract costs from those who sponsor, support and provide sanctuary to terror networks besides continuing to make “false distinction” between “good and bad terrorists”. In a veiled comparison to stark contrast between BIMSTEC countries and Pakistan, Swaraj said the regional bloc today represents the “polar opposite” of a terrorism promoting polity. Swaraj used the strong words during her address at the BRICS media forum here.
