Government: PM upset over excesses in Balochistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech “did not come out of the blue” and he was “troubled by the human rights violations and the excesses committed by the Pakistani military, top government sources said on Wednesday, adding that “humanity doesn’t stop at the borders”. “If he (the Prime Minister) was acknowledging that, it was perfectly the natural thing to do,” sources said, adding that the move evoked reactions from “oppressed people some distance from us”. Sources also said the Government would “take a call at the right time for policy reasons” on whether PM Modi should visit Pakistan in November for the scheduled Saarc summit there. Sources also said that in ties with Pakistan, India “should not normalise terrorism” which is of huge concern to the country. Sources further said that “the issue of terrorism makes it difficult for ties with Pakistan to progress”, given Pakistan’s open support to cross-border terrorism.

Asked about the situation in Kashmir, top sources said there were protests there following the death of a terrorist and recruiter of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Burhan Wani, who was a poster boy for militancy there and who was recruiting other youth for terrorism. Sources said it should not be made out as if an innocent youth had been killed by the security forces.

In answer to a question on whether PM Narendra Modi would not visit Venezuela for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit and whether this spelt the end of NAM for India, top sources said no decision had been taken on who should represent India but that the “PM can’t be at two places at the same time.”

Sources also termed India’s relationship with China a “mixed picture”, adding that bilateral ties faced “some challenges” in the recent past, including when it blocked New Delhi’s NSG bid.