Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday made a strong statement on terrorism threatening peace and stability in South Asia at a meeting of SAARC ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Regional cooperation in South Asia is not possible without an environment of peace and security, said the minister.
“The number of threats and incidents that endanger South Asia are on the rise. Terrorism remains the single-largest threat to peace and stability in our region, and indeed in the world. It is necessary that we eliminate the scourge of terrorism in all its forms, without any discrimination, and end the ecosystem of its support,” the foreign minister said in an indirect reference to Pakistan as she addressed the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) foreign ministers.
“I would like to stress that meetings, including high-level ones, can only be effective if expressions of resolve are translated in to concrete action on the ground,” the minister said.
Her comments are significant after India last week turned down Pakistan’s request for a meeting of the two foreign ministers over the killing of a soldier and three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan’s new prime minister Imran Khan had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the meeting of the ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. India first accepted the request, but a day later, rejected it after the killings and over Pakistan’s move to release stamps glorifying terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed by security forces in Kashmir in 2016.
The two foreign ministers avoided meeting each other on Thursday.
