In a suo motu statement on his visit to Islamabad to attend the 7th SAARC Home Ministers Meeting on August 4 in Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he had urged the members not to glorify terrorism or give patronage to it.
“A terrorist in one nation cannot be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone,” he said.
“They should not make the mistake of distinguishing between good terrorism and bad terrorism,” he said. “It is necessary to take all effective steps against states or non-state actors encouraging or supporting terrorism.”
To ensure that terrorism is not encouraged, it was necessary that stringent action is not just initiated against terrorists but also against persons, organisations, institutions and states supporting them, Singh said.
He said he had suggested to the SAARC Ministers that sanctions and bans imposed against terrorists by the global community have to be honoured.
Stringent action should also be taken against persons involved in terrorism and their extradition should be ensured so that they can face the law, the Home Minister said.
“It is important for nations who have not ratified SAARC Convention on Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters to do it,” he said, adding Pakistan has so far not ratified this Convention as well as SAARC Terrorist Offenses Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and SAARC Drug Offenses Monitoring Desk (SDOMD).
“I was told on behalf of Pakistan that they will soon act on ratifying these. And I hope that ‘soon’ is actually soon,” he said.