The Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh on August 18 declared that there will be no talks with Pakistan till it acts against terrorism and if talks with the neighbouring country are held in future, they would be only on Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), reports Daily Excelsior. In a series of tweets and address to a rally at Kalka in Haryana, Rajnath said, “Some people say talks should be held with Pakistan but till it ends terrorism there will be no talks. And in future, if talks are held with Pakistan, they will be on PoK only’’. “About what should we talk? What’s the issue on which there should be talks? Why there should be a talk? If there would be any talk with Pakistan, it would happen only when Pakistan stops supporting terror from its soil,” he asserted. The Defence Minister said Pakistan Prime Minister (Imran Khan) has acknowledged Indian action in Balakote post-Pulwama terror attack. “Few days ago, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that India is planning to take an action bigger than Balakote. It means that Pakistan Prime Minister has acknowledged what India did in Balakote,’’ Rajnath said.
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on August 17 said that Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, had become a platform to ‘shield’ terrorists and their patrons, reports Daily Excelsior. “The Government’s decision on Article 370 was taken in the interest of the nation as well as the common people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Prasad said in Maharashtra. “We should understand that it was a temporary provision and removed in the interest of the country,” Prasad said.