Kashmir a bilateral issue: India

Rejects Turkey's offer to mediate in talks with Pak

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday turned down Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to help resolve India-Pakistan dispute on Kashmir through multilateral talks.

Modi told Erdogan that India was always ready for bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in an atmosphere free of terror, not only on Kashmir dispute, but also on other outstanding issues.

He made it clear to the Turkish president that no third party could have any role in resolving India-Pakistan bilateral disputes.

Erdogan had rubbed New Delhi the wrong way by suggesting in an interview before his arrival that India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir should be resolved through multilateral talks and Turkey could stay involved through a multilateral process to resolve the row.

The Indian side also made it clear that the entire Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and would remain so in future; but a part of the state had been under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

“It was conveyed to the Turkish president that India remained ready to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner through bilateral dialogue with Pakistan in accordance with the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and Lahore Declaration in 1999,” Gopal Baglay, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, told reporters.

Modi and Erdogan agreed that all forms of terrorism should be condemned. “We agreed that no intent or goal, no reason or rationale can validate terrorism,” the prime minister said after the meeting.

Without directly blaming Pakistan for export of terror to India, Modi stressed on the need for all nations to work together to put a stop to cross-border movement of terrorists.

Erdogan, however, did not touch upon the issue of cross-border terrorism while addressing mediapersons and rather condemned the recent attack on security personnel by Maoists in Sukma.
 “Turkey will always be by the side of India in full solidarity while battling terrorism… And terrorists will be drowned in the blood they shed.”

Modi and Erdogan signed three pacts — a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in information and communication technologies, cooperation between foreign service of India and diplomacy academy of Turkey and a cultural exchange programme.
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