While the Narendra Modi government makes serious efforts to improve India’s troubled relationship with Pakistan, the Shiv Sena has hit out against the move and said that there should be no talks between the two countries.
“There should be no talks. If Pakistan kills our one soldier we should kill 10 of theirs…only language Pakistan understands,” said Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut. Shiv Sena is part of the NDA alliance.
Raut’s tough line on Pakistan came on a day when Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing at Indian positions along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor district killing one Army jawan.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley later briefed the Parliament on the issue. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said, “Indian Army has given befitting reply to Pakistan’s repeated attempts of ceasefire violations along the LoC. India will keep retaliating to such violations.”
Shiv Sena’s aversion to any engagement with the Pakistan has been a long standing one.
Soon after Modi led NDA won the Lok Sabha polls, Sena had demanded that the new government should adopt an aggressive “tit for tat” policy towards Pakistan and should teach it a lesson if it creates trouble for India.
“A tit for tat policy should be there for Pakistan. If it is okay with us, we should be okay with them. If it creates trouble, we should teach it a lesson,” Sena chief Uddhav Thackarey had said.
However, Modi had went out of his way to start on the right note by inviting leaders from all neighbouring countries for his swearing in ceremony.
Shiv Sena is the oldest ideological ally of BJP and the second largest constituent of NDA after the saffron party. It won 18 seats in the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra.
