The MEA’s reaction comes a day after Pakistani Deputy PM & Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the onus on improving trade ties cannot be one way.
‘T For Terrorism’: MEA Hits Back at Pakistan
The MEA’s reaction comes a day after Pakistani Deputy PM & Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the onus on improving trade ties cannot be one way. Dar said there was a need to create an environment to help improve the relations. “Afghanistan is our brother. We want strong ties. With India, it takes two to tango. If there’s goodwill, we are ready for trade,” Dar said. “The relevant ‘T’ word there is ‘terrorism‘ and not ‘tango‘,” Jaiswal stated firmly during the MEA briefing.
Dar’s statement, made during a meeting with journalists at the Foreign Office, indicated that diplomatic progress requires a mutual effort from both countries. He explained that for normalisation of relations, both India and Pakistan must demonstrate a willingness to engage with each other. Trade ties between the two countries have been suspended since 2019 and Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with India following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The suspension of trade with India has severely impacted Pakistan, with the country having to import goods from faraway countries, further depleting its foreign exchange reserves. High inflation and political instability have also left Pakistan’s economy in dire straits.
It has left Pakistan to rely on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or friendly countries like China for loans to meet its needs.
India has repeatedly underscored that “terror and talks” cannot go together and asked Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorist activities.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has termed cross-border terrorism, extremism and separatism as the “three evils” hindering trade and people-to-people relations between the countries.
