Dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral: Jaishankar
Jaishankar said the UN Security Council had underlined the need to hold the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack accountable, and on May 7 morning, “we held them accountable through Operation Sindoor”.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (Express Photo)
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After US President Donald Trump stirred the hornet’s nest by offering to work with India and Pakistan for a “solution” on Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in first remarks since Trump’s comments, said Thursday that India’s relations and dealings with Pakistan will be “strictly bilateral”, which has been a national consensus for many years and there is “absolutely no change” in that consensus.
“To me things are fairly clear. So, let me take this opportunity to spell out our position. One, where Pakistan is concerned, our relations, our dealings with them will be bilateral, and strictly bilateral. That has been a national consensus for many years, and there is absolutely no change in that consensus that dealings with Pakistan will be bilateral,” Jaishankar said on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
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They have to shut down terrorist infrastructure, they know what to do,” he said.
Explained
Reiterating Simla pact
Jaishankar’s reiteration that all Indian dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral is in line with the 1972 Simla Agreement between the two countries. Under the pact, all disputes were to be resolved through bilateral channels, and not any third party. India has stuck to this position.
He said New Delhi is “prepared to discuss” with Islamabad what is to be done on terrorism.
On the Kashmir issue, he said, “Only thing that remains to be discussed on Kashmir is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, we are open to discuss it with Pakistan… The government position is very, very clear.”
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Jaishankar’s statement follows the one on Tuesday by Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.
Jaiswal said, “We have a longstanding national position that any issues pertaining to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan.”
Jaishankar said the UN Security Council had underlined the need to hold the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack accountable, and on May 7 morning, “we held them accountable through Operation Sindoor”.
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More