In a week when India had high-level diplomatic meets, although virtually, with neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and extended its Neighbourhood First policy, Pakistan remained that unfriendly neighbourhood with which only nasty words have been exchanged.
On Thursday, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the Ministry of external affairs (MEA), lashed out at Pakistan for criticising the judgment of a trial court over the Babri Masjid demolition criminal conspiracy case.
“India is a mature democracy where the government and its citizens abide by verdicts of the court and show respect for the rule of law,'' he said. “It may be difficult for a system with a coercive apparatus, where people and the courts can be silenced at the will of the establishment, to understand such demographic ethos,'' Srivastava added.
A special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday acquitted all the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case, including BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Pakistani foreign ministry had made critical remarks about the judgment and also said that Indian institutions have been overtaken by ideology.
The spokesperson said under India's Neighbourhood First policy, the government was committed to developing friendly and mutually beneficial relations with all neighbours. “Our engagement with these countries is based on a consultative, non reciprocal and outcome oriented approach. We have a large developmental footprint ... and are engaged in several projects for greater connectivity, improved infrastructure and broader people-to-people contacts,'' he said.
India had a virtual bilateral summit with Sri Lanka a few days ago. On September 29, India and Bangladesh met for a joint consultative commission meeting and on Thursday afternoon, officials in New Delhi met with their Myanmarese counterparts for Foreign Office Consultations.
However, regarding Pakistan, Srivastava said that India had conveyed its desire for normal neighbourly relations in an atmosphere free from terror, hostility and violence, But the onus was on Pakistan for creating such an environment.