‘Terror and talks cannot go together’

BJP says that India’s engagement with Pakistan would be based on strategic interests.

The Bharatiya Janata Party reiterated its position here on Friday that terror and talks cannot go together, adding that India’s engagement with Pakistan would be based on strategic interests.

In a separate resolution, the party spelt out the ‘Panchamrit’ or five pillars of the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy: ‘Samman’ or dignity and honour; ‘Samvad’ - greater engagement and dialogue; ‘Samriddhi’ - shared prosperity; ‘Suraksha’ - regional and global security; and ‘Sanskriti evam sabhyata’ - cultural and civilisational linkages. The BJP attacked the Congress-led UPA government and said it had pursued a lacklustre diplomatic policy that saw India “punching below its weight.”

‘Significant, new strides made in foreign policy’

The BJP slammed the foreign policy of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government as lacking in direction.

In a resolution tabled at the party’s national executive here on Friday, the BJP said: “A cursory glance at the lost decade of the UPA, reveals retreat and a loss of direction in engaging with neighbours, ham-handed diplomacy vis-à-vis Pakistan and a blind spot in our foreign policy to the Indian Ocean island states.”

The resolution titled “Our national ambition is Bharat’s rise as a strong and respected world power”, said the party takes “great pride in the significant new strides the foreign policy of our country has made under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi in the last 10 months.”

It said Mr. Modi has pursued a “bold, proactive and innovative foreign policy that is aligned with our government’s primary goal of accelerating national economic development; and to fulfil Bharat’s global responsibilities as the world’s most populous youth nation and largest democracy.”

The country was referred to as Bharat 57 times in the resolution and as India, just thrice.

On Pakistan, the resolution said, “We have laid out a clear policy for building peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan, predicated on an end to terrorism.”

“There can be no compromise with terrorism. There can’t be any duplicity towards a problem that has become a regional crisis and is fast becoming an international nightmare…All outstanding issues with Pakistan can be resolved through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” it said.

It said the national ambition is “Bharat’s rise as a strong and respected world power” for which the government has adopted “Panchamrit.”

“Our government has, in a short span of ten months, transformed foreign policy into a major instrument to realise our national ambition of Bharat’s rise as a strong and respected world power,” the resolution said.

Party spokesperson M.J. Akbar, who also spoke on the resolution, told journalists that Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu proposed it, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj summed up the foreign policy initiatives of the government that have helped the country emerge as a global power.