In a marked hardening of stance by the Indian government on the brutal killing of two Indian jawans by Pakistani troops, Union minister for external affairs Salman Khurshid has warned Pakistan that bilateral ties could be affected and there may no longer be “business as usual”.
His stern remarks on Monday also indicated, for the first time, that India’s ongoing peace dialogue with its neighbour could receive a serious setback. Less than a week ago, Mr Khurshid had told reporters that India needs to be careful about forces that may try and derail the peace process for normalising ties between the two countries.
The remarks by both Mr Khurshid and by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day indicated a clear shift in New Delhi’s stance from one that was conciliatory to a hardline one. It came a day after the flag meeting between India and Pakistan came a cropper and amidst continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
New Delhi’s toughened stand came on a day when the Pakistan foreign office issued a statement saying, “Pakistan attaches great importance to the ongoing peace process with India” and also expressed its desire to “continue with the dialogue process”. These remarks, however, came before India had enunciated its hardened stand. Mr Khurshid said India is no longer willing to accept Islamabad’s “brazen denial” of the killings — one of the two Indian Army soldiers was beheaded. It was also reflected in the language used by the government on Monday with the word “provocative action” used earlier giving way to “grave provocation”.
Reading from a statement at a hastily called press conference on Monday evening, Mr Khurshid said: “It should not be felt that the brazen denial and the lack of a proper response from the government of Pakistan to our repeated demarches on this incident will be ignored and that bilateral relations could be unaffected or that there will be business as usual. “
Describing the soldiers killing as a “repugnant act”, the minister said India has already called upon the Pak government to investigate the “unacceptable action and ensure this does not recur”.