India can talk to Pakistan if it takes significant action against terrorism: Tharoor

KARACHI: The problem with holding talks with Pakistan is not the language, but finding a common vision for decency and peace, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, stressing that New Delhi can engage in dialogue with Islamabad if it takes significant action against the “infrastructure of terrorism that is visible everywhere” in the country.

Tharoor, who was leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to Brazil, also said his team successfully conveyed India’s message against terrorism to the Latin American countries, including to those who may have had some misunderstandings.

“This is what we keep telling our interlocutors. If Pakistan is as innocent as they claim to be, why do they give safe haven to wanted terrorists? Why are they able to live peacefully, to conduct training camps and radicalise further people, to equip arms and get people to practice their arms and Kalashnikovs...,” he said.

“You crack down on this infrastructure of terrorism that is visible everywhere in your country. Then, of course, we can talk,” Tharoor said. “We can talk to them in Hindustani. We can talk to them in Punjabi. We can talk to them in English. There is no problem in finding common ground with Pakistan. The problem is finding a common vision for decency, for peace. We want to be left in peace, to grow and develop. They don’t want to leave us alone. They want to harass us. They want to undermine us,” he alleged.

On another question whether India hopes that Brazil, which is hosting the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, may issue a statement on terrorism against Indian citizens, Tharoor said, “I think, honestly, BRICS has a different agenda. I’m not saying that they may not want to express solidarity. I mean, that’s really not my brief. I don’t know, and I don’t even know if it’s in the draft that they’re working on already.” According to another report, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that recent record aircraft orders from the country’s airlines are just the beginning for the world’s fastest-growing domestic aviation market.

“Indian carriers have placed orders for more than 2,000 new jets and that’s just a start,” Modi said while addressing hundreds of global aviation leaders at an airline industry summit.