india

Updated: Feb 18, 2019 23:09 IST

Against the backdrop of mounting tension with Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the time for talk is over and that any hesitation in dealing with terrorism and its supporters will only exacerbate the threat.

Modi’s remarks came after a meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri amid growing speculation about India’s response to the terrorist assault by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed that killed 40 troops on February 14. India and Argentina also issued a special declaration denouncing terrorism.

“President Macri and I agree that terrorism is a very big and grave threat to world peace and stability. The cruel terror attack in Pulwama shows that now the time for talks has passed,” Modi said without naming Pakistan during a joint press interaction.

“Now, there is a need for the whole world to unite and take firm steps against terrorism and its supporters. Any hesitation in acting against terrorism and its supporters, who are opposed to humanity, is akin to encouraging terrorism,” he added.

With reports suggesting that the Indian leadership is weighing various options to respond to the terror attack, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh said the country will choose the time and place for retaliation and that this will be “properly planned and well thought of”.

“Any war, war-like or punitive action must be planned for success. It should be a cold act and nothing is to be done in a hurry,” Singh, a former army chief, told reporters in Shimla. “Even Osama (bin Laden) was not killed in a day despite the fact that the US knew he was hiding in Pakistan. Let us wait and watch and support our forces,” he said.

The India-Argentina special declaration to fight terrorism condemned the attack in Pulwama and said Modi and Macri agreed on the need for concerted action by the world community against terror. “They stressed that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever, particularly emphasising the scourge of cross-border terrorism,” it said.

They said strong measures should be taken against “terrorists, terror organisations, their networks and all those who encourage, support, finance and provide safe haven to terrorists and terror groups”. They said the world community should ensure terrorist organisations do not get access to weapons of mass destruction or technologies or finances and committed themselves to cooperation in specialised multilateral forums.

They also pledged to strengthen cooperation against threats from terror groups listed under UN Security Council resolutions. “The leaders gave a call that no country must allow their territory to be used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries,” the declaration said in a tacit reference to Pakistan.

BJP chief Amit Shah told a gathering of party workers in Jaipur that the government will ensure that the sacrifices of the troops are not in vain. He said no political leader in the world has Modi’s political will to tackle terror.

Meanwhile, the Congress, while reiterating India’s long-standing position on Jammu & Kashmir, and condemning the terror attack, also spoke out against attacks on students from Kashmir in various parts of the country. “J&K is an integral part of India. Neither Pakistan nor any terrorist force by any name can ever undo this reality. The unprovoked attacks on the students of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in different parts of the country are also reprehensible and unacceptable,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in a press conference on Monday.