Any talks with Pakistan will only be on terror, return of POK: Rajnath SIngh
NEW DELHI: India has redesigned and redefined its strategy and response to terrorism emanating from Pakistan and if talks do take place with Islamabad in the future, they will only be on terrorism and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday in what appeared a repudiation of Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif's suggestion that the two countries should engage in comprehensive dialogue that covers all their disputes.
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POK was an integral part of India and its people, who got geographically and politically separated, and would sooner or later voluntarily return to India "listening to the voice of their souls and self-respect", Singh said, addressing the annual CII business summit here.
Echoing Singh, the external affairs ministry later in the day said any dialogue with Islamabad will have to be focused on the return of POK and also wanted terrorists to India.
The ministry also said any engagement between the two countries would be strictly bilateral.
"We want to reiterate that terrorism and dialogue cannot go hand in hand. And as far as the issue of terrorism is concerned, any discussion with Pakistan will focus on the list of terrorists we had provided them some years ago - they should hand them over to us," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"Regarding J&K, any bilateral talks will only be about one thing - when will Pakistan vacate POK, which it has been holding illegally and unlawfully," he added.
Singh earlier warned Pakistan that India could have inflicted much more damage between May 7 and 10 during Operation Sindoor, with 'Made in India' weapons having the power to "penetrate any armour of the enemy", but exercised restraint as a responsible country.
Stressing that 'Make in India' was an essential component of national security, he said the country's home-grown weapons systems surprised the entire world by playing a key role in Operation Sindoor.
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