Distinction between state of Pakistan & terrorism has withered away: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Paris, May 27 (PTI) The distinction between the state of Pakistan and terrorism has now withered away, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday, underlining that terrorism as an instrument of state policy is a part of the military state in the neighbouring country.

Prasad, who is leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to France, conveyed India’s zero-tolerance stance against terrorism emanating from Pakistan in a briefing with local French media.

During a press conference hosted at the Indian Ambassador to France's residence, the team presented photographic evidence of Pakistani military officials attending the funerals of terrorists and flagged how 52 UN-designated terrorist organisations found a safe harbour by Pakistan.

“The distinction between the state of Pakistan and terrorism has now withered away,” Prasad told reporters.

“Terrorism as an instrument of state policy is a part of the military state of Pakistan. There is no democracy there and the most hilarious aspect was that the general whose forces were defeated at the hands of India, decisively, got promoted to Field Marshal. This is their state of denial, always,” he said.

The performance of military gear in the conflict was also raised by the local media in Paris, to which the delegation pointed to the multiple briefings by the Ministry of Defence with digital proof.

“Not even a single aircraft from India crossed into Pakistani territory," he said.

“On operational details, Pakistan keeps on lying but today our military establishment has explained everything, with digital proof,” the BJP leader said.

On India-France bilateral ties, he added: “We have a strategic partnership dating back to 1998. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi also has a personal friendship equation for the French President (Macron)… There is a whole big horizon as to how these two nations undertake their partnership, including for defence gear.

“I would also like to highlight that only three days ago India became the fourth biggest economy in the world. That is what India’s economic might is.” Fellow MP Daggubati Purandeswari highlighted the resounding success of Operation Sindoor in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack last month.

“Ultimately it is the goal that matters. Our focus was completely on how do we neutralise the terrorist camps, which our soldiers and our weapons have actually done their job. And, we have not lost even one soldier. All of them are back home safely,” she said.

Former Union minister M J Akbar asserted India’s clear and thought-through “no first use” doctrine on nuclear weapons.

“Pakistan is a military state, it is no longer a civilian state. And a military state has a vested interest in conflict because conflict justifies its presence… now it sometimes thinks it can provide a nuclear shelter to terrorists. The Prime Minister (Modi) has made it very clear that there can be no nuclear blackmail,” he said.

The delegation, one of 33 similar all-party teams travelling across the globe to express India’s zero-tolerance stance against terror, will hold meetings with Senators and National Assembly members before departing for Italy on Tuesday evening.

This will be followed by visits to Denmark, the UK, Belgium and Germany. PTI AK ZH ZH