Jaishankar slams Pakistan on terror: World not stupid, snakes in backyard can bite

Earlier, Jaishankar, addressing reporters at the UN headquarters after chairing a signature event held under India’s presidency of the Security Council on ‘Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward’, said, “I saw, I read the reports on what (Pakistan) Minister (Hina Rabbani) Khar said. And I was reminded, more than a decade ago… Hillary Clinton was visiting Pakistan. And Hina Rabbani Khar was a minister at that time.”

“Standing next to her, Hillary Clinton actually said that if you have… snakes in your backyard, you can’t expect them to bite only your neighbours. Eventually, they will bite the people who keep them in the backyard. But as you know, Pakistan is not great at taking good advice. You see what is happening there,” he said.

Responding to a Pakistani journalist’s question on how long South Asia was going to see terrorism disseminating from New Delhi, Kabul and Pakistan, Jaishankar said, “You know, you are asking the wrong Minister when you say how long will we do this? Because it is the ministers of Pakistan who will tell you how long Pakistan intends to practice terrorism.”

“At the end of the day, the world is not stupid, the world is not forgetful. And the world does increasingly call out countries and organisations and people who indulge in terrorism,” he said.

“By taking that debate elsewhere, you are not going to hide it. You are not going to confuse anybody anymore. People have figured it out. So, my advice is, please clean up your act. Please try to be a good neighbour.”

“Please try and contribute to what the rest of the world is trying to do today, which is economic growth, progress, and development,” Jaishankar said. “I hope through your channel that message goes.”

Bilawal Bhutto responded sharply, telling a press conference in New York: “I would like to remind Mr Jaishankar that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the Prime Minister… He was banned from entering this country (the US). These are the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the RSS, which draws inspiration from Hitler’s SS.”

Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the MEA, said, “These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India.”

“As recent conferences and events have demonstrated, counter-terrorism remains high on the global agenda. Pakistan’s indisputable role in sponsoring, harbouring, and actively financing terrorist and terrorist organisations remains under the scanner. Pakistan FM’s uncivilised outburst seems to be a result of Pakistan’s increasing inability to use terrorists and their proxies,” Bagchi said.

He said cities like New York, Mumbai, Pulwama, Pathankot and London are among the many that bear the scars of Pakistan-sponsored, supported and instigated terrorism. “This violence has emanated from their Special Terrorist Zones and exported to all parts of the world. ‘Make in Pakistan’ terrorism has to stop,” he said.

“Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr, and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. No other country can boast having 126 UN-designated terrorists and 27 UN-designated terrorist entities,” the spokesperson said.

“We wish that Pakistan FM would have listened more sincerely yesterday at the UN Security Council to the testimony of Ms. Anjali Kulthe, a Mumbai nurse who saved the lives of 20 pregnant women from the bullets of the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. Clearly, the Foreign Minister was more interested in whitewashing Pakistan’s role,” he said.

“Pakistan FM’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their State policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah,” Bagchi said.