HANGZHOU, China – Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sept. 5 told the G20 summit here that Pakistan was spreading terror in South Asia and using terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
He also appealed the grouping to “isolate and sanction supporters of terrorism.”
At the two-day G20 summit which began in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, India raised the issue of terrorism at various sessions.
Modi told Chinese President XI Jinping how the scourge of terrorism was affecting the region.
“There are some nations that use it as an instrument of state policy. One single nation in South Asia is spreading agents of terror in our region,” Modi said, without naming Pakistan.
India’s ties with Pakistan have soured after Islamabad declared Jammu and Kashmir terrorist Burhan Wani, shot dead by security forces, as a “martyr.”
“For us a terrorist is a terrorist,” Modi said. He was speaking during his intervention at the last session of the G20.
The Prime Minister said “growing forces of violence and terror pose a fundamental challenge” and urged the international community to act in unity and respond against terrorism.
“India has a policy of zero tolerance to terrorism. Because anything less than that is not enough,” he said.
In his meeting with President Xi, Modi expressed concern over terrorism emanating from Pakistan’s restive regions of Giligit-Baltistan and Pakistani Kashmir where the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is coming up.
Modi also raised the issues of black money and tax evasion, urging member countries to act against financial corruption.
“Fighting corruption, black money and tax evasion are central to effective financial governance,” said the Prime Minister. “We need to act to eliminate safe havens for economic offenders, track down and unconditionally extradite money launderers and break down the web of complex international regulations and excessive banking secrecy that hide the corrupt and their deeds,” he said.
Representing 85 percent of the world’s GDP, the G20 is composed of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.