Kartarpur corridor, yes. Talks, no, says India

The ground breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan by its PM Imran Khan on Wednesday exposed the deviously deep fault lines between India and Pakistan.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

The ground breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan by its PM Imran Khan on Wednesday exposed the deviously deep fault lines between India and Pakistan.

In a stirring speech after the ceremony, where he was accompanied by Pak Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Khan made all the right noises about wanting peace in the neighbourhood, and “moving beyond blame games and scoring brownie points”.

But New Delhi remained unconvinced. Insisting that the Kashmir issue could be resolved if leaders on both sides showed political will, he pointed to France and Germany, which had been on opposite sides during the Second World War. India’s response was swift and brutal. 

“It is deeply regrettable that the Pak PM chose to politicise the pious occasion meant to realise the long pending demand of the Sikh community to develop a Kartarpur corridor by making unwarranted reference to Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs. “Pakistan is reminded it must fulfil its international obligations and take effective and credible action to stop providing shelter and all kind of support to cross border terrorism from territories under its control.”

Khan also took pains to insist that for a change, politicians and the military were keen on peace with India. “The Pakistani government, all opposition parties & Armed Forces equally want peace, harmony & strong bilateral ties with India which allow us to foster trade, mutual gains & much more,” he declared. 
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who declined to attend the ceremony in Pakistan citing campaigning priorities, was equally candid in her response to reports that Pakistan would ‘invite’ India to attend the SAARC meet. “Unless and until Pakistan stops terror activities in India, there will be no dialogue, so we will not participate in SAARC,” she told reporters in Hyderabad. 

“I am happy that for the last 20 years, India has been asking for the Kartarpur corridor and for the first time, Pakistan responded positively. But bilateral dialogues and Kartarpur corridor are two different things. The moment Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, the dialogue can start.” 

As an Indian diplomat put it, Khan is “talking peace while letting certified terrorists like Hafeez Saeed and Masood Azhar walk free in Pakistan spouting anti-India venom is a pathetic, ridiculous attempt at trying to garner respectability. And not only India, but the entire world has seen through Pakistan’s duplicity.”

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