NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Pakistan needed to “walk away from terror” if it wanted to establish agreeable relations with India. Modi was speaking at the inauguration of the second edition of the Raisina Dialogue, an annual conference held in New Delhi. It is considered to be India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics.
He said if Pakistan wanted dialogue with India, it needed to distance itself from “terror activities”. “Those in our neighbours who support violence, hatred and export terror stand isolated and ignored,” Modi said. The Indian premier said he extended an invitation to all members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), including Pakistan, around the time he assumed office.
“I had also travelled to Lahore but India alone cannot walk the path of peace,” the Indian premier added. Emphasising the importance of security in India’s “neighbourhood”, he said, “Security of our citizens is of paramount importance but self-interest alone is not in our culture or behaviour. A thriving well-integrated neighbourhood is my dream,” Modi added.
Modi also downplayed India’s deteriorating relationship with China, saying having differences between two “large neighbouring powers was not unnatural. He did, however, send China a coded message, saying growing military ambitions in the Asia-Pacific were creating security risks. Although couched in diplomatic language and not mentioning China by name, Modi’s remarks in a keynote foreign policy speech aligned New Delhi with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s intent to curb Beijing’s regional clout.
“Rising ambition and rivalries are generally visible stress points,” Modi told an audience of politicians and top military brass from 65 nations. “The steady increase in military power, resources and wealth in the Asia-Pacific has raised the stakes of security. In the management of our relationship and for peace and progress, we need to show sensitivity and respect for our core concerns,” he added.
