Home Minister Rajnath Singh showed real guts to pay a visit to Pakistan for the SAARC meet and did open his mind from the Indian angle from getting rid of terrorist activities in the sub-continent. Launching a direct attack on Pakistan at the SAARC conference in Islamabad, Singh made it clear that terrorists should not be eulogised as martyrs and those who provide support to them in any manner should be isolated. This was a point blank attack in their own territory despite the strong presence of terrorists in his approach on landing the Pakistan territory. Singh, who addressed the SAARC Interior Ministers’ conference in Hindi, cited the terrorist attack at the Pathankot airbase and the 26/11 Mumbai attack and said strong condemnation of such incidents was not enough. The current strain in Indo-Pakistan relations was evident when Mr. Singh came face-to-face with his Pakistani counterpart for the first time in a bold and purposeful way. This is a rejoinder to Pakistan and India to possess a right frame of mind to deal with the ticklish situation in future.
Jayanthy S. Maniam
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
