Neha
JAMMU, May 10: BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday had indicated a really tough stand against Islamabad and stated that talks between New Delhi and Islamabad could not be possible amid sound of gunfire. "Is it possible to have discussions amidst bomb blasts and gunshots? Do you think it is possible to have a discussion amidst the deafening noise of bomb blasts and gunshots? So to have a reasonable discussion, first the blasts and gunshots have to stop," he said in an interview with leading news channel, Times Now channel and the anchor was none other than Arnab Goswami.
When asked to explain his recent statement that "a confrontational approach is not the best approach in foreign policy relations and whether he would allow talks to continue despite ceasefire violations," Narendra Modi said there could be no talks till all this came to an end. He, in fact, retorted and asked: "You tell me, we are sitting here but can we continue our conversation if we are surrounded by the noise of bomb blasts and gunshots?" When again asked "whether he was saying that the export of terror from Pakistan, infiltration could not continue," Modi said the Indian Parliament held a unanimous opinion and no political party had the authority to change this opinion. In other words, he referred to the three unanimous Parliamentary resolutions on Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir of February 1992 and March and August, 2013. These resolutions say that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and shall ever remain so and warns Islamabad against interfering in the internal affairs of India. This should be the stand, which reflects the national will and national resolve.
Arnab Goswami did not stop just there. He further asked "whether the talks could continue since Pakistan has not moved one inch on the 26/11 trial," Modi said without mincing words that "all these issues continued to stay as these were". In other words, he made it loud and clear that action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks is imperative and New Delhi cannot deviate from this path. When asked "if there was no progress in the 26/11 trial and infiltration and export of terror continued, then would his Government, if he came to power, continue talks," Modi asked, "why do you (Arnab Goswami) think negative?"
"If the country looks strong, then even its companions will change, neighbours will change and the atmosphere will change," he said, thus clearly suggesting that he, if comes to power, will adopt a foreign policy that would be solely guided by the country's own geo-political and economic interests and it will not be a weak-kneed foreign policy. Modi further asserted that the "question was born out of disappointment, whereas his answer had a positive outlook to it". And when told that the "BJP position till now was that talks and terror could not continue," Modi said "if the country's Government was strong, then the solutions would be found automatically".
Indeed, Narendra Modi talked of a foreign policy that the nation had been longing for since years now and particularly after the Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement of the Indian Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart that talks and terror could go hand-in-hand. It's no wonder then that his interview to the Times Now has caused an alarm in Pakistan and among Kashmiri separatists as well as the so-called mainstream Kashmiri leaders and those in India, including the likes of AAP leader Prashant Bhushan who wanted New Delhi to accommodate the Pakistani view on Jammu and Kashmir. India needs Modi, as he has the ability, capability, capacity and the necessary will to stem the rot and protect and promote further the country's sovereign interests. |
