In a big diplomatic victory for New Delhi, German Ambassador to India Martin Ney today said that Germany will stand with India in its fight against terrorism.
Responding to a query on the recent surgical strikes by the Indian Army across LoC, he told reporters here, "There is a clear international norm that every state has the right to defend its territory from international terrorism."
"Let me put it this way..it is absolutely clear that there are two norms in international law governing this issue (cross-border terrorism).
The first clear norm is that every state under legal occupation should ensure that no terrorism is emanating from its territory.
"Secondly, there is a clear international law that any state has the right to defend its territory from any form of global terrorism," Ney said.
"When it comes to counter terrorism, Germany stands side by side with it its strategic partner (India). And these (statements) are not empty words. It is quite clear in the political declaration signed by Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel," he said.
"I can assure you standing with India side by side against terrorism are not empty political words but backed with concrete projects," Ney said.
On the bilateral trade between India and Germany, the German envoy said his country was the sixth largest partner of India and the largest trading partner in European Union.
Ney was speaking at a function held here to appoint Cyient Ltd Founder and Executive Chairman and former NASSCOM Chairman BVR Mohan Reddy as the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka PM Ranil Wickremasinghe said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a lot of steps to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. “We are also a country affected by terrorism.
We have discussed that how does SAARC evolve from here. Let us look at ensuring there is no cross-border terrorism in India or any other country in the region. SAARC nations must discuss cross border terror. There is no future of SAARC if there is no cooperation,” he said.
PTI inputs
