‘Don’t Think We Are Going To Spell Out…’: Jaishankar’s Fresh Warning To Pakistan With ‘Right To Defend’ Message From US | India News
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Wednesday again highlighted that India will not hesitate to take action if terror attacks like Pahalgam happen again. Addressing the media in Washington after the successful completion of the QUAD summit and bilateral meetings, Jaishankar said that India has communicated very clearly its position of zero tolerance against terrorism.
“What we have communicated very clearly is we mean it when we say there is zero tolerance for terrorism…If you look back at the Prime Minister’s address to the nation after the cessation of firing on the 10th of May, there were some very clear messages which came out of that…It’s really for the terrorist groupings and for their sponsors to absorb and reflect on those messages. I don’t think we are going to spell out (what India will do) if this (terror attack) happens, what we will do. I mean, no government does that,” said Jaishankar.
Jaishankar said that he shared India’s concern with all QUAD counterparts – the United States, Australia, Japan. The EAM said that India informed the QUAD members of the nature of the terrorist challenge India has confronted over multiple decades. “We are very resolved today to respond to it very firmly and we have the right to defend ourselves…The perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable, they must be brought to justice and that’s important because we have to communicate to the world that what we did on 7th May, the objective of Operation Sindoor is that if there are terrorist attacks, we will act against the perpetrators, the supporters, the enablers. That message was conveyed with great clarity,” said Jaishankar.
EAM Dr S Jaishankar also said that India expects to hold a Quad summit later this year. Sharing details of the QUAD meeting and outcomes, Dr Jaishankar said that the grouping launched the Quad Critical Minerals initiative to focus on the mineral recovery, which is very important for all four countries.
“There is the Quad at Sea Ship Observer mission. This involves our coast guards…Then there is a maritime legal dialogue at the expert level which will be held virtually later this month. We took some steps to expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership on Maritime Domain awareness through our Gurugram Fusion Centre,” said the EAM.
He said that the QUAD members strongly agree that the goal of the grouping is to strengthen strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific and in this meeting, the discussions were largely devoted to enhancing delivery on various initiatives and projects.
