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Cross-border terrorism key challenge: India

* Foreign secretary says anti-India terror groups receive patronage from powerful forces, institutions in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India considers terrorism in its immediate neighbourhood and cross-border terrorism a pivotal security challenge for it, the Indian foreign secretary said on Thursday.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was speaking at India Initiative of the Centre for a New American Security and the ASPEN Institute India on the ‘US and India: Chartering the Future Course.’

Rao said the phenomenon of cross-border terrorism had also highlighted the difficulties that India faced in dealing with Pakistan.

“We face hostile forces across our border with Pakistan, although we have consistently stressed our support for the advancement of democracy, growth of civil society, and economic development in an atmosphere of peace in Pakistan, goals the US also identifies with,” Nirupama said.

She alleged the groups, who directed attacks against India, had received the “patronage of powerful forces and institutions” in Pakistan.

“It is vital this support must stop at once. Any viable process of normalisation of our relations with Pakistan is essentially dependent on this requirement since it is unrealistic to think otherwise,” she said.

Referring to the regional situation, she said India appreciated the commitment of the US for the stabilisation of the situation in Afghanistan and to intensify efforts to eradicate terrorism.

Rao said there was a growing consensus the increase in terrorist activities in Afghanistan was linked to the support and sanctuaries available in Pakistan.

“It is equally critical for the US and international community to pay attention to and realise the situation both in Afghanistan-Pakistan and the cross-border terrorism against India are manifestations of the use of terrorist ideologies to promote unscrupulous political or institutional agendas,” she said.

Rao said Pakistan’s concerns of the perceived threat in the East and on Indian activities in Afghanistan need to be unequivocally rebutted. She said it was also essential to ensure international aid that Pakistan received including that from the US was not diverted for anti-India purposes as had happened in the past.

“We have reiterated a number of times that we harbour no aggressive designs on Pakistan, Rao said. app

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