New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday said that “war is not an option” with Pakistan and it had decided that the only way to remove the “shadow of terrorism” is to hold dialogue with the neighbouring nation.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Lok Sabha that India and Pakistan decided to hold talks on terror when the Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif met in Ufa (Russia) in July and then in Paris recently.
“We said we can talk so that terrorism comes to an end. So talks (between NSAs) took place in Bangkok where we discussed about terrorism. But one meeting will not bring a solution to all the problem. So we will continue the dialogue,” she said during Question Hour. When BJP member Ganesh Singh asked whether India was exploring options like the US did to hunt down terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, Swaraj said India is talking to Pakistan on the terrorist camps existing in Pakistan-occupied Kas-hmir (PoK) as “war is not an option”.
“We have decided that through talks we will resolve the issue of terrorism as talks is the way forward so that the shadow of terror is removed. But we want to make it clear, our Prime Minister has made it clear that talks and terror can not go together. Dialogue is drowned by the sound of explosion,” she said.
Ms Swaraj was speaking against the backdrop of recent decision to re-start the ‘comprehensive’ dialogue with Pakistan under which various subjects, including terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir, will be discussed.
The External Affairs Minister said Mr Modi had said there was a need for talks to resolve the issue of terrorism.
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