By Arvind Padmanabhan, IANS,
Pretoria : Even though the Tshwane Declaration of India, Brazil South Africa issued Tuesday spoke at length on terrorism and had specific references to virtually every conflict region and country — including Afghanistan — Pakistan was conspicuous by its absence.
But speaking to journalists after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South African President Jacob Zuma concluded their engagements, the Indian interlocutors at IBSA Summit sought to downplay the matter, saying the leaders focussed on larger subjects and subjects of mutual interest.
“The declaration has touched on a lot of issues. It discusses Libya, the Palestine issue, Syria, Afghanistan. It speaks about terrorism. The focus was on larger issues,” M. Ganapathi, Secretary (West) in India’s foreign office told reporters here.
The declaration has a specific reference to Afghanistan, notably on the need to render assistance to Kabul for sustainable peace and development. On Sri Lanka, the declaration recognised its territorial sovereignty and its efforts to implement an inclusive political settlement.
This apart, individual paragraphs were also devoted to transational organised crime, Libya, the Arab-Israel peace process, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau. In that light, Pakistan’s exclusion stood out.
(Arvind Padmanabhan can be reached at [email protected])