Terrorism makes Indo-Pak relationship difficult to grow: S Jaishankar

Problem is that the terrorism issue has become so central to the relationship that it makes the relationship difficult to grow, said Jaishankar.

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Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

Indian diplomacy today is in many ways, more practical, more outcome-oriented and more development-focused, said Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Wednesday while giving a speech at Delhi’s Foreign Correspondents Club.

Stressing on the need to go that extra mile for India’s neighbours, Jaishankar said we have to offer them terms of engagement that are attractive to them. “As biggest country of region, we have to go the extra mile, we’ve to reach out to our neighbors, we have to make them feel secure,” he said.

While maintaining that India in the last two years has put in great effort to reach out to Pakistan, Jaishankar said the terrorism issue makes the relationship difficult to grow. “While we all agree that we should move forward, it doesn’t always go very smoothly. Problem is that the terrorism issue has become so central to the relationship that it makes the relationship difficult to grow. Looking at the neighbourhood, we clearly face a unique challenge in respect to one country which is Pakistan,” said Jaishankar

READ: India rejects Pakistan’s invitation for talks, says ready to discuss cross-border terrorism not Kashmir

Jaishankar’s remarks on Pakistan comes two days after an invitation extended by Islamabad to India for resolving the Kashmir issue, which has led to strained bilateral ties between the two countries.

“At times, domestic politics of our neighbours pose challenges. We’ve learnt to be patient. We have one standout country in the region which has a different view of terrorism which makes it a difficult partner for all of us,” added Jaishankar.

Two days after Pakistan invited India for talks on Kashmir, India on Wednesday turned down it’s proposal for foreign secretary-level talks, saying terror remains the core concern but asserted that it would like to discuss aspects related to cross-border terrorism which are central to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

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