India has nothing to admit on Balochistan: Tharoor

LAHORE: New Delhi on Sunday said it was in no way responsible for the insurgency in Balochistan and a mention of Balochistan in a recent joint statement did not amount to implication of India in the matter. In an interview on Sunday, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said if Islamabad had a problem with terrorism or insurgency in Balochistan, India only sympathised with Pakistan on the problem. “But our record is an open book. There is no harm in mentioning Balochistan because it is not an admission by India—there is nothing to admit,” he said during the interview carried by the Indian Express. When asked that Indian diplomacy had worked effectively across the world but had failed in its South Asian neighbourhood, the minister said part of the problem was that Indians lived in a tough neighbourhood. “The truth is that countries around the periphery have so many challenges of their own — Pakistan is the most obvious example. And I don’t think India can be found wanting in that relationship. For instance, we extended Most-Favoured Nation trading status to Pakistan 14 years ago and there has still not been any reciprocity.” “On most issues you find India has taken the first step and the hostility is coming from the other side,” Tharoor said. daily times monitor