NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday hit back at Pakistan for labelling PM Modi’s remark on the bilateral issues with Islamabad “misleading and one-sided”.
The external affairs ministry said the world knows that the real issue is Pakistan’s “active promotion and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism” and that Islamabad should “vacate Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation”.
In an interview with with American podcaster Lex Fridman, PM Modi on Sunday said that “every attempt to foster peace with Pakistan was met with hostility and betrayal” and that he hoped that “wisdom would prevail on the leadership in Islamabad to improve bilateral ties.”
Also read: ‘We chose peace, they chose proxy war’: PM Modi on India-Pakistan relations on podcast with Lex Fridman
Fridman asked the Prime Minister about the tense conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations and whether he saw a path to friendship and peace.
PM Modi responded by recalling India’s partition in 1947, describing it as a painful and bloody chapter in history. He explained that despite India’s acceptance of partition, Pakistan did not choose peaceful coexistence.
“After getting their own way, we expected them to live and let live, and yet, they chose not to foster a harmonious coexistence. Time and again, they decided to be at odds with India. They have waged a proxy war against us,” PM Modi said in the podcast.
He accused Pakistan of exporting terror, saying that India is not its only victim — terrorist activities linked to Pakistan have impacted the entire world.
“Wherever terror strikes in the world, the trail somehow leads to Pakistan. Take the September 11 attacks, for example. The mastermind behind it, Osama bin Laden—where did he eventually emerge from? He had taken refuge in Pakistan. The world has recognized that in a way terrorism and the terrorist mindset are deeply rooted in Pakistan,” he said.
PM Modi further called Pakistan an “epicentre of turmoil”, urging its leadership to “abandon the path of terrorism” and work towards peace. He also mentioned that the people of Pakistan themselves long for peace, as they have suffered from years of internal unrest and terrorist violence.
Reacting to PM Modi’s remarks, Islamabad raked up the Kashmir issue and called it an “unresolved dispute”.
“The remarks are misleading and one-sided. They conveniently omit the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which remains unresolved for the last seven decades despite India’s solemn assurances to the United Nations, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people,” Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement, according to news agency PTI.
In a strong-worded rebuttal to Pakistan’s statement, the ministry of external affairs called Islamabad a sponsor of cross-border terrorism, which is “biggest roadblock to peace and security in the region”.
“We note that Pakistan has once again made some comments about the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The world knows that the real issue is Pakistan’s active promotion and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. In fact this is the biggest roadblock to peace and security in the region. Instead of spreading lies, Pakistan should vacate Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.
