Can't have talks with countries training guns at us: Venkaiah Naidu

Without naming Pakistan, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that talks cannot be held with countries that have trained their guns at India.

"We are open to conflicting views but we are not so open to senseless violence and irrational terrorism," Naidu said while releasing here a set of five books on Indian foreign policy published by think tank Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA).

"We also know that first we must create conditions for a dialogue," he said.

He referred to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's statement that one can change friends but one cannot change neighbours and said: "There is no intention to change neighbours, but there should be change in attitude."

Describing terrorism as an enemy of mankind which has no religion, Naidu said that no religion condones or preaches terrorism.

Stating that people on both sides of the border love each other because of past history, he said that, however, some people are giving "unasked advice" to engage in dialogue.

"They should also know the reality on the ground and what is happening. It is a fact and it is known to everybody that our neighbour is aiding, abetting, funding, training terrorists," the Vice President said.

Stating that this was affecting the relationship, he said that that is why India's stand has been that talks and terror can't go together.

"We can't have talks with countries that have trained their guns at us," Naidu asserted. "Some educated leaders are suggesting that we should engage in a dialogue with one of our neighbours who is fomenting trouble and encouraging cross-border terrorism. We need to be clear about our country's diplomatic stand."

He said that India does not have any problem with any other country in the world and gave as an example India's good ties with both Israel and Palestine.

The five books released in Thursday's function are "Regional Satraps and the Battle for India's Foreign Policy" by Kalyani Shankar, "Media and Foreign Policy in India" by Shubha Singh, "Technology and International Relations: Challenges for the 21st Century" by Bhaskar Balakrishnan, "Squaring the Circle: Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home" by P.R. Kumaraswamy, and "India-Iran Relations:Under the Shadow of the Iranian Nuclear Issue and Challenges for Indian Diplomacy".

--IANS

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