Hyderabad: Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that India would not respond to Pakistan’s invitation to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Pakistan because “terror and talks don’t go together”.
Addressing the media in Hyderabad, Ms Swaraj said, “I have already visited Pakistan, but what happened after that? Pathankot and Uri happened due to which we have decided not to respond to invitations from Pakistan to our Prime Minister.
“For many years, the Indian government had been asking for the Kartarpur corridor, and only now Pakistan has responded positively. It doesn’t mean bilateral dialogue will start because of this; terror and talks can’t go together. Unless and until Pakistan stops terror activities in India, there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in SAARC,” Ms Swaraj added.
On the campaign in Telangana, she said, Telangana was carved out for the people of the state, not for the five-member family of caretaker chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao. “KCR is a chief minister, his son is a minister, and his nephew is a minister,” she said.
She said though about 2,000 students committed suicide for the formation of Telangana, the caretaker chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao recognised only 400. Ms Swaraj was also unhappy with the language used by Mr Rao against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“KCR speaks a language that is similar to the AIMIM’s. Though we are rivals in elections, we don’t become enemies. But even enemies don’t speak this language.”
She denied rumours about BJP’s tie-up with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. “These rumours are being spread by those who want to damage the BJP’s credibility, but whatever we do we do it openly,’’ she declared.
The external affairs minister further added, “Telangana Movement leader Kodandaram started his own party, the Telangana Jana Samiti, and joined the Congress in an alliance while MLAs who opposed the formation of Telangana state are not a part of the TRS. It is only the BJP that has clarity and
credibility, and this time Telangana election is between credibility versus incredibility, and BJP is credible and very committed to Telangana. Unless the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to power, Telangana cannot be reconstructed,” she said.
