Sushma Swaraj There will be no dialogue with Pakistan unless it desists from terrorist activities against India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj declared Wednesday.
She said this in a rebuff to Pakistan a day after Islamabad said it would invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SAARC summit, according to a report by Money Control.
Mrs Swaraj also said the Kartarpur corridor initiative was not linked to the dialogue process with Pakistan.
"Unless and until Pakistan stops terrorist activities in India there will be no dialogue and we will not participate in SAARC," Swaraj told a press conference.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal had said on Tuesday that prime minister Modi will be invited to that country for the SAARC summit.
India had pulled out of the 19th SAARC summit that was to be held in Islamabad after the deadly terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in September that year.
The summit had to be called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to attend. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the other two members of the regional grouping.
No summit meeting of SAARC has happened ever since.
Meanwhile CNN report added, India and Pakistan are set to inaugurate the construction of a corridor to facilitate hassle free cross-border travel for religious devotees -- a rare step to improve ties between the two South Asian foes even as deep-seated divisions continue to obstruct progress in long-stalled peace talks.
The Indian cabinet approved the building and development of the so called Kartarpur corridor last week, a five kilometer (3.1 miles) long passage to connect two Sikh temples on either side of the border between India and Pakistan due to open in 2019.
The temple in Kartarpur in Pakistan is among the holiest sites for Sikhs.
The laying of the road's first foundation stone in Pakistan, Wednesday, comes days after the 10th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, a four day terror siege in which 164 people were killed. Indian intelligence blamed Pakistan based terrorists for orchestrating the attacks.
Ever since, it's been a major bone of contention in any move to talk peace between the two neighbors.
"This corridor will be a historical landmark between India and Pakistan and will also boost tourism as more pilgrims would visit the holy shrine throughout the year between two countries," said an Indian press release.
The road link, dubbed the "corridor of peace" in local media, is the latest attempt to improve cultural ties between the two countries who have harboured resentment for decades, after the bloody riots which followed the creation of the modern states of India and Pakistan following the departure of the British colonial government in 1947.
"Opening the corridor will allow Sikh Yatrees ease of access for their most reverential place of worship which has been their longstanding demand. This is also reflective of the importance and primacy that Pakistan gives to all minorities," said the statement released by the Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry.
But while the move has been welcomed by many as a positive step, the two countries remain divided, especially over the future of the disputed Kashmir region
Even as the Indian cabinet approved the building of the corridor, Delhi on Wednesday dismissed the resumption of bilateral talks.
Earlier, Pakistan invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend a regional summit in Pakistan next year.
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