SHARIF DESERVES TO BE SNUBBED BY PM MODI DURING SCO SUMMIT

There were some media reports, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may meet his Pakistan’s counterpart Shehbaz Sharif during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in mid-September. Sharif is said to be more than keen to have an interaction with his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO summit. But the question remains whether Pakistan has been able to do anything substantial on the ground to rein in terrorists and terror outfits since the formation of the new government in Islamabad under Shehbaz Sharif. The answer is in negative. The Pakistan government has nothing to show to the world on its so-called counter-terror “commitments”.

On what ground is PM Shehbaz Sharif then seeking a meeting with PM Modi? The continued terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir are self-explanatory that Islamabad is still supporting and funding terrorists against India. The arrest of a terrorist Tabarak Hussain, a resident of Sabzkot village of Kotli in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, has exposed Pakistan’s state actors’ links to the terror act in India. Hussain, who was captured in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, was reportedly paid Rs 30,000 by a colonel of Pakistan intelligence agency to attack the Indian Army post. This terrorist also worked for an intelligence unit of the Pakistan army. The Indian security agencies have collected clinching evidence to prove all that. He was trying to infiltrate into this side from across the border. There is no dearth of such terror activities that are taking place with full backing, assistance and funding from several elements—state actors—based in Pakistan, and the Shehbaz government should come out with an explanation on the same. With Pakistan still not taking action against terrorism, will PM Modi meet Shehbaz in Samarkand? Perhaps not. PM Modi should rather snub Pakistan Prime Minister during the SCO Summit in Uzbekaistan so that a strong message could go out to Pakistan over terrorism. The Indian premier should even avoid a handshake with Sharif.

PM Modi has already made it clear to his Pakistan’s counterpart Shehbaz Sharif that India desires peace and stability in a region free of terror. PM Modi had given this strong message while congratulating Sharif soon after his oath as the new Pakistan Prime Minister in April this year. In fact, PM Modi’s message was then viewed as a sharp retort to Sharif’s remarks on Kashmir. Sharif was raising the Kashmir issue which India categorically called an internal matter. Snubbing Shehbaz is the right treatment that Pakistan’s prime minister deserves, given its inability to deal with terrorism effectively and continued to support to terror outfits in their anti-India activities.

This is exactly how External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had behaved with his Pakistan’s counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Tashkent last month. Jaishankar had not only ignored Bilawal, but also delivered a strong message to Pakistan on terrorism. During the SCO meeting, Jaishankar said there must be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its manifestations, with Bilawal present there. Moreover, Jaishankar in a veiled criticism also pointed out that repeated attempts to deliberately bring bilateral issues into the SCO violate the laid down principles of the grouping and such counter-productive acts should be condemned. Jaishankar was referring to Bilawal’s bids to raise Kashmir issue there.

What the Indian government cannot forget is the latest development where in connivance with Pakistan, China blocked a move by India and the US to list Pak based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader Abdul Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist at the UNSC. Azhar is younger brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar and the deputy leader of the terror outfit that has its main base at Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab Province. India’s Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj, without naming Pakistan and China, also spoke against double standards in dealing with terrorist and politicization of the sanction regime.

Therefore, Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif needs to answer the question whether his government took any irreversible action so far to ensure that no territory under his country’s control is used for terrorist attacks. What has his government done so far to ensure that the perpetrators of Mumbai attack and Pathankot attack are brought to justice? While expecting a meeting with PM Modi, Shehbaz should come clean on this. India has already made it clear that the ball is in Pakistan’s court when it comes to the normalization of bilateral relations. Sharif must act on anti-terror commitments. Pakistan should take genuine steps to stop support to terrorism. Unfortunately, what is being seen is that terrorists remain active in Jammu and Kashmir, carrying out targeted killings of innocent people.