External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has said that India is ready to engage with Pakistan but it should create an atmosphere free from terror and maintained that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan can prove his statesmanship by handing over Masood Azhar to India.
“Agar Imran Khan itna udaar haen toh, de de Masood Azhar ko hamey (If Imran Khan is so generous and a statesman, he should hand over Masood Azhar),” Swaraj said.
Speaking at a function in New Delhi on Wednesday, Swaraj ridiculed Pakistan’s repeated double speak on terror and said even after Pulwama there were instances of such double standards. At one point, she said that Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said JeM chief Masood Azhar was in Pakistan and on the other hand Pak military said JeM did not exit in Pakistan.
Questioning Pakistan’s February 27 misadventure, she said: “Why did the Pakistani military attack us on behalf of JeM? You not only keep JeM on your soil, but fund them and when the victim country retaliates, you attack it on the terror outfit’s behalf. Why you had to attack, did not you retaliate on behalf of Masood Azhar,” she asked.
The minister said India cannot have dialogue with Pakistan unless the neighbouring country acted against terror outfits on its soil.
“We do not want talk on terror, we want action on it,” she said making Indian government’s policy amply clear. (UNI)
