Avtar Bhat
KATRA, Sept 16: Main-taining that situation in Balochistan is a security concern for India, Union Minister of State in PMO with independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that it is both responsibility as well as duty of the Government of India to respond to the atrocities and human rights violations committed by Islamabad there.
Talking to reporters at the sidelines of party’s four day long training workshop (Prashikshan Varg) here, Dr Singh outrighly refuted the allegations of so called interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and termed them totally baseless. “One cannot remain a mute spectator when the immediate neighborhood is on fire, because sooner or later, it carries the potential risk of impacting us”, he added. He said, “just as in case the house next to your boundary wall goes on fire, you have to immediately respond with alertness and alarm so that the fire does not spill over to your house, similarly, restoring normalcy and calm in Balochistan holds a critical stake for us’’. In this regard he cited an English proverb, saying, “you cannot build a heaven inside and leave a hell outside”.
On the prevailing unrest in Kashmir valley, the Union Minister said that the situation is normalizing by and by. Holding Pakistan responsible for present mob violence in Valley, he said the neighboring country will be exposed soon for its misadventures.
Responding to queries about armed encounters in border areas of Poonch and Rajouri, Dr Singh said, “our security forces are capable of meeting any kind of challenge and we are proud of them’’.
He said the situation in the twin border districts is also outcome of Pak gameplan and infiltration from across.
However, giving full credit to security forces in tackling the situation, he said the manner in which the security personnel have operated in Kashmir Valley with utmost restraint is evident from the fact that there is as much casualty on the side of security persons as on the other side.
“This is possibly one of the rare instances in the entire world history that you have security persons allowing injuries to be inflicted on them simply because they are refusing to retaliate with all the might and ammunition at their disposal”, he added.
On resignation of PDP MP Tariq Hamid Karra, he said it is the internal matter of PDP and this will have no impact on coalition Government.
Earlier, addressing the BJP Prashikshan Varg on the subject of India’s foreign policy, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the foreign policy of any country essentially has an external dimension as well as internal dimension, and it is determined by the world scenario at any given time coupled with the domestic scenario at that time. But what is remarkable is that, in spite of changing situations and variations, the foreign policy of a nation ideally tends to follow continuity notwithstanding the change of guard or the change of Government at the helm, he added.
Dwelling in detail on different aspects of foreign policy beginning from the time of India’s independence, Dr Singh, recounted the sequence of events till contemporary times and said while in 1950s and 1960s India was struggling to determine its role in the world arena and in the aftermath of disintegration of British Empire the world had largely split into two major blocks namely the US and Soviet blocks respectively and the 1970s and 1980s witnessed the birth of Bangladesh with the emergence of India as a power to reckon with in the region.
Following the opening of economy in 1990, the focus shifted to the growth of economy and the arrival of Narendra Modi, first as Chief Minister of Gujarat and later as Prime Minister of India, proved to be a turning point and game changer.
Underlining the guiding principles of government’s foreign policy, Dr Singh referred to the outreach to neighboring countries based on the principle of “neighborhood first”. He also dwelt at length on Modi’s “Act East” policy and new initiatives in the form of maritime outreach across the Indian Ocean as well as first-time initiatives with the Middle-East and innovative new agreements with European countries and the US.
Dr Singh said, history will record Prime Minister Modi’s policy as a blend of foreign policy with accomplishment of country’s economic goals. He said, the esteem and respectability earned by India in the world arena today is all-time high and the single most important factor credited for achieving this is the persona of Prime Minister Modi.
Referring to Pakistan’s involvement in Kashmir turmoil, Dr Singh said, from conventional war, Pakistan switched over to low proxy war and now it has resorted to attempts at radicalization of local youth, but the people and Government of India are strong enough to overcome this challenge.
BJP State president Sat Sharma CA presided over the session, which was attended,among others, by general secretary (Org.) Ashok Koul, State Ministers Sham Chaudhary, AG Kohli and Bali Bhagat, general secretaries Harinder Gupta, Pawan Khajuria, Narendar Singh and other prominent State office bearers and leaders.
Later, Sat Sharma, who chaired and conducted these sessions, also felicitated all leaders on their arrival at the venue.
Prabhat Jha, MP (RS) while speaking on coordination between the Government and the Party, said that the organisation is mother of power and the party activists are the backbone of the organisation. The organisation should have control over the people in power, including Ministers and MLAs. There should be proper coordination among the party and the people in power, he added.
Another national leader of the party, Vijay Sonkar Shastri, while speaking on social equality, said that BJP does not believe in the caste system and stands for “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas”. Various programmes /schemes launched by Government of India under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi targets the upliftment of the down trodden and deprived sections of the society, including SC, ST, OBCs and Vanvaasis.
Bali Bhagat spoke on challenges before nation and said that there are internal as well as external challenges before the country.
RSS leader Parshotam Dadhichi while throwing light on the subject said “our ideological family, narrated that a need was felt to float organizations which should have national outlook and dedicated to protect the Indian culture, ethos and the integrity of the country’’.
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