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Time for talks is over, says PM Modi; calls for global action against terrorists

Sources said the External Affairs and Defence ministries were working in close coordination in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.

Time for talks is over, says PM Modi; calls for global action against terrorists

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses at the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016; in New Delhi, on Feb 18, 2019. (Photo: IANS/PIB)

Putting an end to any possibility of talks with Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said it was time for the global community to unite and take concrete steps against terrorists and their supporters.

“Time for talks is over. Terrorists and their sympathisers are working against humanity and any hesitation to act against them in effect means supporting their activities,” he said at a brief media interaction after talks with visiting Argentina President Mauricio Macri.

His statement is being interpreted as a strong message to China which has time and again blocked listing of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Secretary Council to save its all-weather friend Pakistan from global embarrassment. The JeM, which is based in Pakistan and is strongly supported by Islamabad, has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack in which more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday.

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Observing that terrorism was a threat to global peace and security, Modi called for the implementation of the 11-point agenda adopted at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg in 2017.

This is the fourth time that the PM has indicated his government’s resolve to act against terror groups operating from Pakistan since the Pulwama attack which has drawn strong condemnation from across the world and triggered protests in several parts of the country.

Macri, on his part, strongly condemned the Pulwama attack and offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the massacre.

Meanwhile, India continued the exercise to brief foreign powers on Pakistan’s irrefutable complicity in the Pulwama attack. The envoys of some more nations were briefed at the foreign office in New Delhi on Monday. Indian envoys in different world capitals were also meeting top representatives of their host governments to brief them in an attempt to isolate Pakistan on the global stage.

Sources said the External Affairs and Defence ministries were working in close coordination in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack. The Army was constantly briefing Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman and other top officials on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the Pulwama attack. Sources said JeM activists have moved from their hideouts to locations near populated areas, fearing retaliation by Indian security forces in the wake of the Pulwama attack.

The Defence Ministry has also noticed heightened activity by the Pakistan Army on the LoC across the border as the force was on high operational alert.

Pakistan, meanwhile, called back its High Commissioner to Indian Sohail Mahmood to Islamabad for “urgent consultations.” India had, last week, called back its envoy in Islamabad, Ajay Bisaria, to New Delhi for consultations.

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