New Delhi Tuesday asserted that Kashmir is an Indo-Pak bilateral matter, “essentially due to cross-border terrorism” in response to the question on Erdogan’s Kashmir proposal.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India’s position that Kashmir is its integral part is very sharp and publicly known.

 “We conveyed our viewpoint clearly on terrorism and Kashmir [to the Turkish side]. It was made clear that there cannot be any justification for terrorism, whatever is the intent. We clearly conveyed that the issue of Kashmir is essentially an issue of terrorism.”

Ahead of his arrival in New Delhi, President Erdogan had remarked that India and Pakistan were both friends of Turkey and he wanted to help strengthen the dialogue process among the stakeholders for resolving the Kashmir issue.

While Pakistan welcomed on Monday Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to strengthen the dialogue process for resolving the Kashmir issue,

Ahead of his arrival in New Delhi, President Erdogan had remarked that India and Pakistan were both friends of Turkey and he wanted to help strengthen the dialogue process among the stakeholders for resolving the Kashmir issue.

Erdogan had also called for a multilateral approach to settle the Jammu and Kashmir dispute while calling for an immediate end to bloodshed in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Earlier, addressing a joint media event with Erdogan, Modi said countries across the world needed to “work as one to disrupt the terrorist networks and their financing and put a stop to cross-border movement of terrorists”.

Condemning on the April 24 Naxal attack in Sukma in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed, Erdogan said, “Turkey will always be by the side of India in full solidarity while battling terrorism… And terrorists will be drowned in the blood they shed.”

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