Pak mindset on terror hasn’t changed: Puri

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 15

Condemning the Pulwama terror attack, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said the basic attitude and orientation of the Pakistan government and ISI on terrorism had not changed.

He was here to hold a meeting under “Bharat ke Mann ki Baat” organised by state BJP president Shawet Malik and national BJP manifesto committee member Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina at Art Gallery.

Remembering his visit to Pakistan for ground-breaking ceremony of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib corridor, Puri said some representatives from the Punjab Government at that stage were indulged in “jhappi pappi” politics without realising that one has to be careful in making assessments.

He said the corridor was a positive development and should be implemented, but the reality should not be ignored. “Let’s not be exuberant. Don’t forget that Pakistan uses terror as an instrument of their policy. The Pulwama attack is a testament to that. I am deeply pained to see that some people lose sight of the motivating reality. CM Capt Amarinder Singh had taken an appropriate stand by not accepting the invitation with a clear and strong message to the Pakistan army chief that no professional army undertakes the killing of innocent civilians. I too had observed during my Pakistan visit that their mindset had not changed,” he said.

Asked if the withdrawal of “most-favoured nation” status to Pakistan would affect the bilateral trade, he said: “The business can’t be as usual now.”