In Islamabad for the SAARC Home Ministers’ Conference, Rajnath Singh on Thursday cautioned against classifying terrorism as “good terrorism” or “bad terrorism”.
“There is no good or bad terrorism. Terrorism is terrorism,” the Indian Home Minister told delegates at the meet in the Pakistani capital.
“There should be strongest of action not only against terrorists but also against organisations, individuals and nations who support terror,” Singh said.
But it’s anyone’s guess that the Indian Home Minister was hinting at Pakistan, Hafiz Saeed and his outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which is linked to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Mr. Singh’s speech was not aired by Pakistan’s state-run PTV, which was the only media allowed to cover the conference; Indian crew were not allowed to shoot it either.
Mr. Singh’s visit – the first by an Indian leader after the January Pathankot terror attack blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists – has been clouded by visible signs of bitterness between the two countries, especially over a series of provocative comments emerging from Islamabad on Kashmir and Wani.
This morning, he barely shook hands with his Pakistani counterpart Nisar Ali Khan as they met for the first time before the SAARC meeting. They barely touched their hands before Mr Singh walked off towards the meeting venue.
Rajnath stressed that action and not just condemnation would help tackle the menace.
“Mere condemnation of terrorism is not enough,” he stated.
