NEW DELHI – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday made it clear that all issues between India and Pakistan will be resolved bilaterally, virtually rejecting US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between the two countries on the Kashmir issue.
Talking to media persons after the inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras here, Jaishankar said, “Our relations and dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral. That is a national consensus for years, and there is absolutely no change in that. The prime minister (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) made it very clear that talks with Pakistan will be only on terror.”
He said Pakistan has a list of terrorists that needs to be handed over, and they have to shut down the terrorists’ infrastructure.
“They (Pakistan) know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them (Pakistan) what is to be done about terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible,” Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister further asserted that there is no change in its position to keep the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
“The Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until the cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped,” he said.
“The only thing which remains to be discussed on Kashmir is the vacating of illegally occupied Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; we are open to that discussion,” Jaishankar said.
Spelling out India’s position on a host of issues following the highly-successful Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar highlighted that New Delhi received massive international support after the heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 which resulted in the death of 26 innocent civilians.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an international terrorist organisation affiliated to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), owned responsibility for the killings.
“Let me say a few things here. One, we actually got a lot of international support. Many ministers, many leaders called the Prime Minister, and many ministers called me as well. We had a Security Council resolution which very clearly stated that the perpetrators of this attack should be held accountable. On the morning of May 7, we held them accountable through the action that was taken through Operation Sindoor,” the EAM said.
He also cleared India’s stance on cessation of firing and the military action.
“We achieved the goals which we set out to do by destroying the terrorist infrastructure. Since key goals were achieved, I think we reasonably took the position, because even at the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorist infrastructure, we are not striking at the military and the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process.
“They chose not to take that good advice. Once they got badly hit on the morning of May 10. Today, the satellite pictures which actually bring out graphically how much damage we did and how little damage they did,” Jaishankar said.
At the inauguration of the Honduras embassy, the EAM said, “For us, it was very good that we have a new Embassy of Honduras. They are one of the countries that expressed strong solidarity when the Pahalgam terrorist attack took place.”
Asia News Network/The Statesman
Talking to media persons after the inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras here, Jaishankar said, “Our relations and dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral. That is a national consensus for years, and there is absolutely no change in that. The prime minister (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) made it very clear that talks with Pakistan will be only on terror.”
He said Pakistan has a list of terrorists that needs to be handed over, and they have to shut down the terrorists’ infrastructure.
“They (Pakistan) know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them (Pakistan) what is to be done about terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible,” Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister further asserted that there is no change in its position to keep the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
“The Indus Waters Treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until the cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped,” he said.
“The only thing which remains to be discussed on Kashmir is the vacating of illegally occupied Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; we are open to that discussion,” Jaishankar said.
Spelling out India’s position on a host of issues following the highly-successful Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar highlighted that New Delhi received massive international support after the heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 which resulted in the death of 26 innocent civilians.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an international terrorist organisation affiliated to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), owned responsibility for the killings.
“Let me say a few things here. One, we actually got a lot of international support. Many ministers, many leaders called the Prime Minister, and many ministers called me as well. We had a Security Council resolution which very clearly stated that the perpetrators of this attack should be held accountable. On the morning of May 7, we held them accountable through the action that was taken through Operation Sindoor,” the EAM said.
He also cleared India’s stance on cessation of firing and the military action.
“We achieved the goals which we set out to do by destroying the terrorist infrastructure. Since key goals were achieved, I think we reasonably took the position, because even at the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorist infrastructure, we are not striking at the military and the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process.
“They chose not to take that good advice. Once they got badly hit on the morning of May 10. Today, the satellite pictures which actually bring out graphically how much damage we did and how little damage they did,” Jaishankar said.
At the inauguration of the Honduras embassy, the EAM said, “For us, it was very good that we have a new Embassy of Honduras. They are one of the countries that expressed strong solidarity when the Pahalgam terrorist attack took place.”
Asia News Network/The Statesman
