India refutes Pakistan's charge of funding Taliban fighters

New Delhi, Oct 27 (ANI): Rejecting Pakistan's charges of funding Taliban fighters, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has said that India was not a country that sought to destabilise its neighbours.

"We don't believe that there is any such evidence because we know we are not a country that believes in destabilising our neighbours, and we would not be interesting in fomenting any trouble in Pakistan, that's not our style, that's not the kind of policy we conduct. But if they feel they have any information to share with us, why should we refuse to receive it?" Tharoor said.

Tharoor said that differences apart, New Delhi applauds Pakistan's fight against the Taliban in its own territory.

"The truth is that sadly there are some people who have consciously, as a matter of policy, supported terror from Pakistan to our country and indeed to Afghanistan and that's why we deplore such an approach. We applaud the fight of Pakistanis against the terrorists and extremists in their midst.

We mourned with those Pakistani civilians who have lost their lives in attacks by terrorists. We would like to see a stable, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan, just as we want the same things for ourselves in India,"he added.

On the recent spar with China, Tharoor said the issue was blown out of proportion by an "enthusiastic media" in India.

"I always felt in any case that minor irritants have been blown out of proportion in our rather enthusiastic media," he added.

On the alleged racial attack on an Indian student in Australia, Tharoor said Canberra has assured New Delhi that it was taking steps to tackle such incidents.

"We have made this very clear that we are concerned about the safety and well being of our students anywhere including in Australia where there are some 90,000 students of Indian origin studying. Obviously any one person getting hurt is something we deplore. But at the same time, 22 or 23 incidents in around 90,000 students should also be seen in proportion. We have urged the Australian government to take matters in hand, they have assured us that they are taking a number of steps, both on the policing side, on the counselling side," said Tharoor. (ANI)