Srinagar
After Pakistan welcomed Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to strengthen the dialogue process for resolving the Kashmir issue, New Delhi has asserted that it was an Indo-Pak bilateral matter.
Erdogan had called for a multilateral approach to settle the Kashmir dispute while calling for an immediate end to “bloodshed”.
New Delhi’s virtual rejection of Erdogan’s suggestion came in the course of his discussion with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which the two countries held that “no intent or goal or reason or rationale can validate terrorism” and decided to work together to deepen cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to effectively counter this menace, a news gathering agency reported.
In response to the question on Erdogan’s proposal, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India’s position that Kashmir is its “integral part” is very sharp and publicly known.
“We conveyed our viewpoint clearly on terrorism and Kashmir [to the Turkish side]. It was made clear that there cannot be any justification for terrorism, whatever is the intent. We clearly conveyed that the issue of Kashmir is essentially an issue of terrorism,” Baglay said.
