External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Rajya Sabha today that India will keep engaging China to resolve the dispute in Doklam. (PTI photo)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj India on Thursday said the border stand-off with China cannot be resolved through a war but can be settled through bilateral talks. Replying to a discussion on ‘India’s foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners’ in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj said that “patience is key to resolving problems” because of patience is lost, there can be provocation on the other side. “We will keep patience to resolve the issue,” she said referring to the Dokalam stand-off with China. “We will keep engaging with China to resolve the dispute,” Swaraj added.
She also commented on India’s relationship with neighbouring Pakistan saying India will start dialogue with Pakistan the day it stops promoting terrorism against this country, adding that terror and talks can’t go hand-in-hand. Also Read: Sushma Swaraj on China standoff in Rajya Sabha: War not a solution, wisdom is to resolve issues diplomatically
Here is what Sushma Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha today:
1. On Doklam standoff: War cannot resolve problems; Wisdom is to resolve issues diplomatically.
2. “Patience is key to resolving problems” because if patience is lost, there can be provocation on the other side, said Swaraj on Doklam.
3. Military readiness is always there as the military is meant to fight wars. But war cannot resolve problems. So wisdom is to resolve diplomatically.
4. On Pakistan: But it can’t be one-sided… Terror and talks cannot go together. The day they stop promoting terror, we will start the talks,” she said replying to a discussion on “India’s foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners.
5. You are asking what is our Pakistan roadmap? We had declared it even before the swearing-in. We had invited prime ministers of all the neighbouring countries and all came… Bilateral meetings were also held and I was present.
6. She recalled that the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif along with leaders of all other neighbouring countries had been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government in May 2014. Since then, the relations with Pakistan have been witnessing ups and downs, she said.
7. Sushma said, the relations with Pakistan were at such height that on December 25, 2015, when Modi wished Sharif on his birthday, the Pakistani leader asked him to greet him personally. Modi then visited Lahore to so, putting protocol aside. She said even after the terror attack on Pathankot
Airbase on January 1,2016, Pakistan, shedding its past practice of being in denial, set up an investigating team to probe it.
8. “The story changed after (the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander) Burhan Wani (in an encounter) when they (Pakistan) declared him as a martyr,” Swaraj said.
9. She also slammed the Congress for questioning the Modi government’s foreign policy, telling the Opposition party that all the concerns that it was talking about now were born during the previous UPA rule. “You are the ones who gave birth to the concerns raised now,” she said.
10. On India’s relations with Israel: Sushma Swaraj asserted that despite India having very good relations with Israel, it will not ignore the issues of Palestinians. “Israel humara mitra zaroor hai lekin Palestinian ke cause ko hum kabhi let down nahi karenge ye humara sankalp hai (Israel is definitely our friend, but we will never let down the cause of Palestine. And this our resolution).”
11. “De-escalation does not mean retreat. It is safeguarding India’s interest,” Sushma on Doklam.
