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India has nothing to do with Baloch insurgency, says Tharoor

October 15, 2009 16:12 IST
India has no role in insurgency in Pakistan's Balochistan province and unlike 'certain other countries' it does not follow the policy of destabilising its neighbours, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday.

Negating Pakistan's recent accusations about India's support to separatists in Balochistan, Tharoor said, "We have to make one thing very clear. We do not have a policy of destabilising our neighbours."

"There is a great difference to the Indian approach to neighbourhood policy and the approach of certain other countries which have been instrumental in the past in sending terrorist to Indian soil," Tharoor told PTI in New York.

He also underlined that no such evidence has been provided by Pakistan and said India was not engaged in any 'unwholesome activity' in any of its neighbouring countries.

"But if the Pakistanis genuinely believe they have something to tell us then they should not hesitate to give us whatever evidence they believe they have," Tharoor added.

Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated that India was not involved in fomenting trouble in Balochistan. "This is entirely wrong," Singh said responding to Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's remarks that India was arming militants in Balochistan.

Betwa Sharma in New York
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