Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said India will not participate in the SAARC event unless Pakistan stops sponsoring terrorism.
"We are not responding to the invitation unless Pakistan stops terrorism, we will not respond. We will not participate in SAARC," the Foreign Minister said.
Her remarks came a day after Pakistan Foreign Office's invitation to PM Narendra Modi for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.
Addressing media in Hyderabad, Swaraj said Kartarpur corridor is not connected with dialogue process with Pakistan as "terror and talks can't go together".
“For many years the Indian Government had been asking for this (Kartarpur) corridor, only now Pakistan responded positively. It doesn’t mean the bilateral dialogue will start because of this, terror and talks can’t go together,” Swaraj said.
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"The moment Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India, the dialogue can start but the dialogue is not connected with only the Kartarpur corridor," she said.
Pakistan had invited Swaraj for the foundation stone laying ceremony of Kartarpur corridor.
Swaraj, who was unable to travel to Kartarpur Sahib due to prior commitments, had said India would be represented by Union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will on Wednesday lay the foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor.
The corridor will facilitate easy passage for Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.
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Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.
The Kartarpur corridor is expected to be completed within six months.
(With inputs from PTI)
