Terror & Talks Can’t Go Together, But Talk on Terror Can: MEA

MEA said NSA-level talks took place between India with Pakistan and the issue of cross-border terrorism was raised.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, in a press conference on Thursday, 11 December, in New Delhi, said that India supports terror talk with Pakistan, but terror and talks cannot go hand-in-glove.

We have said terror and talks cannot go together but talks on terror can definitely go ahead.

Raveesh Kumar, MEA Spokesperson

Elaborating on the National Security Advisor-level talk with Pakistan, Kumar said that during the meeting India raised the issue of cross-border terrorism, reported ANI.

I am agreeing that talks took place and our issue was eliminating terrorism from the region. We, of course, raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in those talks.

Raveesh Kumar

The NSAs of both India and Pakistan reportedly held a meeting in Thailand on 1 January. The meeting, which lasted for five hours, included discussions of issues of national security, terrorism, and relations with other countries, The Indian Express reported.

At the meeting, Doval is believed to have raised the issue of infiltration by militants into Kashmir from across the Line of Control (LoC) with active support from the Pakistan Army, considering that the Indian Army lost 31 soldiers on the LoC in 2017.

The Pakistan Army had, in a recent press conference, accused India of increasing the number of ceasefire violations across the LoC in 2017. “Fifty-two civilians were martyred and 254 were injured (in 1,813 violations),” Geo TV quoted army spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor as saying.

(With inputs from ANI, The Indian Express and Geo TV)