India’s PM vows to isolate Pakistan internationally

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused Pakistan of “exporting terrorism” in response to an attack on an army base that New Delhi blames on Pakistani militants.

“This is the only country that is exporting terrorism in all corners,” said Modi in his first public remarks over the last week incident, in which over a dozen Indian troops were killed in an attack on a military base in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

India says the attackers were from a militant group based in Pakistan. Pakistan denies the accusation.

“Wherever there is news of terror, there is news that either the terrorist first went to this country or later, after the incident,” Modi stressed.

He noted that over the last four months, some 110 terrorists, who had crossed into India-controlled Kashmir from Pakistan, have been killed by Indian forces.

“We will isolate you. I will work for that,” he warned. “We both gained independence in the same year but (today) India exports software and your leaders export terrorists.”

Directly after the Sunday attack, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called Pakistan a “terrorist state” that should be identified and isolated.

The restive Muslim-majority region has witnessed an increase in mass protests and violent attacks since early July, when Burhan Wani, a top figure in a pro-independence group, was killed in a shootout with Indian troops.

Tens of thousands of government troops have been deployed to the region and nearly 80 people have lost their lives in the ensuing crackdown.

The government crackdown has failed to halt the protests against the Indian rule in Kashmir.

Indian troops are in constant clashes with armed groups seeking independence across Kashmir, which has been at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, ever since the region gained independence from British rule in 1947.