India on Pakistan minister's ‘two to tango’ remark: ‘T is for terrorism'

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar pressed on the need for mutual willingness to normalise relations with India, saying that “it takes two to tango”.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Dar pointed at the diplomatic efforts that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government had made since it took charge of the office last year.

He said that mutual effort is important to balance relations with its neighbouring nation of India, news agency PTI reported.

Reacting to Dar’s remarks, Ministry of External (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press conference that the relevant ‘T’ word in this case is “terrorism and not tango”.

India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar earlier in December said that the nation would like to have “free of terrorism” ties with Pakistan.

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“We have made it very clear that it is for the Pakistani side to show that they are changing their behaviour of the past. That if they don’t, of course, there are implications for the relationship and for them. I think the ball is very much in Pakistan’s court in this regard,” Jaishankar said while speaking in the Lok Sabha.

India and Pakistan have not had any substantive and sustained dialogue since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which was carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Later the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing, which killed 40 Indian troopers, was executed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. This incident almost brought the two nations to the brink of war.

Notably, India has consistently maintained that improvement of bilateral ties with Pakistan is linked to its support for cross-border terrorism.

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The external affairs minister said that the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy of the nation guides the management of relations with countries in the immediate neighbourhood and focuses on creating mutually beneficial, people-oriented, regional frameworks for stability and prosperity, including through the building of physical and digital connectivity.

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) 2024, Jaishankar had flagged that the body should have an “honest conversation” on the lack of trust and neighbourly ties, taking a swipe at Pakistan’s shortcomings in upholding territorial integrity and tackling terrorism.

India has also continuously reiterated that it has “zero tolerance” policy towards terrorism.

(with PTI inputs)