Nursing the “hurt” caused by the death of Sarabjit Singh, India on Monday said the incident would cause a “setback” to the efforts to build relations with Pakistan and that there would be a “pause” in the engagement with it.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India would have to have a “calibrated” approach towards Pakistan and “work to ensure that its mindset vis-à-vis this country changed for the better”.
In an interview, he said the incident involving 49-year-old Sarabjit, who was brutally assaulted in a Pakistani jail, had agitated common people of India and it would take time to overcome.
Regrettably, Sarabjit’s death came just few months after another distressful incident in which Pakistani troops allegedly killed two Indian soldiers, including beheading one, in a cross-LoC attack in Jammu and Kashmir, he noted.
“It is unfortunate that it (Sarabjit’s death) has happened. We can’t tone down our feelings that have been expressed publicly by ordinary people. And obviously when you feel a sense of hurt and distress, it takes a little time to overcome,” Khurshid said.
“What something like this does is that it causes a setback to the momentum of work you have done to bring about greater and more meaningful relationship. I think, obviously, the recent events will do the same,” he said when asked whether the Indian prisoner’s death would have an impact on India-Pakistan relations.
Referring to the January 8 killing of Indian soldiers, Khurshid said, “Another incident happened at LoC. That had also caused a lot of distress to people in the country. And it took a long time to calm tempers down and calm emotions down.”
“When something like this happens, I think you have to pause a while and let things settle down,” he said while referring to the major public outburst triggered after Sarabjit was assaulted in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore leading to his death.
