Addressing an international ministerial conference- ‘No Money for Terror’- on counter-terrorism financing in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a strong message to both Pakistan and China on the issue of terrorism. In an obvious reference to Islamabad and Beijing, PM Modi said that certain countries support terrorism as part of their foreign policy while some others support it indirectly by blocking action against terrorists. The stern and tough message to China and Pakistan like this one from the top Indian leadership was much-needed and much-awaited at a time when India, France and the US are reported to be planning to initiate fresh efforts aimed at getting some more Pakistan-based terrorists blacklisted at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). What is also remarkable and significant is that PM Modi’s terse message for China has come just hours after his hand-shake with the recently re-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali in what was interpreted by some analysts as the Indian premier assuming a posture of friendliness. Some analysts even went to the extent of interpreting it as PM Modi softening towards China. But the conclusion that all these analysts jumped to was demolished in the light of the statement that PM Modi made, using the opportunity provided by the conference on counter-terror financing. The Prime Minister sent out a strong signal to China as well as Pakistan on terrorism, setting the narrative and agenda for the conference. The interactions that would follow the PM’s opening remarks would definitely include the stuff critical of any such powers (read China and Pakistan) that promote or protect terrorists. The Prime Minister’s message was categorically clear that India will continue to call out the nations like China and Pakistan for their double-speak on terrorism. The PM’s hand-shake with Xi was just a ‘formal gesture’ that is unavoidable when two world leaders come across. PM Modi was quite specific in targeting China and Pakistan during the conference in New Delhi as he said, “Certain countries support terrorism as part of their foreign policy. They offer political, ideological and financial support to them. Organisations and individuals who attempt to create sympathy for terrorists should be isolated.” PM Modi’s remarks could be viewed as something suggestive of India’s larger strategy to make the global community turn the heat on China and Pakistan over their soft corner for terrorists. There is no dearth of examples and developments that expose Beijing’s nexus and connivance with Islamabad in protecting the terror outfits which are operating from the territories under the control of Pakistan.
The words of PM Modi were self-explanatory in this context, “There must be a cost imposed upon countries that support terrorism also on organisations and individuals which try to create sympathy for terrorists. They must also be isolated. There can be no ifs and buts entertained in such matters. The world needs to unite against all kinds of overt and covert backing of terror.”
What India wants to impress upon the global community is that Chinese action at the UN on several occasions in the past, in fact, exposes the Xi Jinping regime’s double standard on terrorism. Beijing has on several occasions foiled international efforts to take action against terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also been highlighting China’s double-speak on terror from time to time, no matter where he finds an opportunity to speak on these topics. In a signal to Beijing, Jaishankar once said that the nations who defend proclaimed terrorists in the UN neither advance their own interests nor their reputation. Hitting out at China, Jaishankar without mincing words had said that those who politicize the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so “at their own peril”. India’s diplomacy achieved an outstanding success when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on an earlier occasion said that all relevant parties should support these resolutions and no nation should stand in their way. Blinken’s remarks were, in fact, directed towards China, which had blocked the proposal by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based militant and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed’s son Talah Saeed.
T. BRAJESH