On Friday (May 5), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called out Pakistan and its terror industry at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
Without mincing any words, he said, “As a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state, Mr Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his positions were called out and countered including at the SCO meeting itself.”
When asked by a reporter to engage Pakistan at a diplomatic level, S Jaishankar made it clear, “Victims of terrorism do not sit with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism. They defend themselves, counter acts of terrorism, call it out, delegitimise it and that is what is exactly happening.”
#WATCH | "As a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state, Mr Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his positions were called out and countered including at the SCO meeting… pic.twitter.com/9cLckxLML9
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
The External Affairs Minister pointed out that India and Pakistan are not in the same boat when it came to terrorism. “Pakistan’s credibility is depleting faster than even its Forex reserves,” he underlined.
Earlier in the day, S Jaishankar gave a half-hearted welcome to Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the SCO Summit in Goa. Following a brief gesture of ‘Namaste‘ and photo session, he promptly showed the way to his Pakistani counterpart.
#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar welcomes Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the Meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa pic.twitter.com/TVe0gzml1U
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
The ‘cold treatment’ drew the ire of the ‘Aman ki Asha’ brigade in India. Former advisor to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sudheendra Kulkarni, lamented, “Dr Jaishankar should have taken SCO foreign ministers, including Bilawal Bhutto, for a friendly stroll on a beach in Goa. But he didn’t.”
My dear Pakistani friend Murtaza Solangi, an eminent journalist, and I walked — and talked peace. People must prevail over politicians,” he claimed. It must be mentioned that Kulkarni had downplayed Chinese aggression against India in July 2020 and dubbed calls to boycott Chinese products as ‘stupid’.
Dr Jaishankar should have taken SCO foreign ministers, including Bilawal Bhutto, for a friendly stroll on a beach in Goa. But he didn’t.
— Sudheendra Kulkarni (@SudheenKulkarni) May 6, 2023
My dear Pakistani friend @murtazasolangi, an eminent journalist, and I walked — and talked peace.
People must prevail over politicians. pic.twitter.com/T6B9Dm82fR
‘Director’ Ram Subramanian claimed, “S Jaishankar invites Pak’s Bilawal Bhutto to India and insults him. Not our culture. Don’t invite them again if this is how you are going to behave sir. You are deviating from our tradition with your pedestrian-level politics.”
S Jaishankar invites Pak's Bilawal Bhutto to India and insults him. Not our culture. Don’t invite them again if this is how you are going to behave sir. You are deviating from our tradition with your pedestrian level politics. https://t.co/XM3jZ6Jqe1
— Ram Subramanian (@iramsubramanian) May 5, 2023
‘Author’ Scharada Dubey wrote, “How does a man whose every single utterance sounds rude and petty become a representative of our country on the international stage? My 4 yr old grandson has more diplomacy in his demeanour. What a sad day for us to read these statements daily.
How does a man whose every single utterance sounds rude and petty become a representative of our country on the international stage? My 4 yr old grandson has more diplomacy in his demeanour. What a sad day for us to read these statements daily. 🤮https://t.co/qhS7nSO6yy
— Scharada Dubey (@scharada_d) May 6, 2023
While the ‘Aman ki Asha’ brigade wanted India to be hospitable to Pakistan, look past its record on terrorism and mend bilateral ties, the presser by the Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaffirmed the fact that S Jaishankar was right about Pakistan.
When asked about India holding a G20 summit in Kashmir by reporters, he said, “Waqt aane par aisa jawab denge jo yaad rahega (When the right time will arrive, we will give them such a reply that they will remember it for a long time).
EAM Jaishankar's comment comes after "#Bilawal's Brazen Threat "waqt par aisa jawab denge" on G20 in Srinagar pic.twitter.com/A3kUFbLVVr
— Mojo Story (@themojostory) May 5, 2023
Why India cannot afford to trust Pakistan
Such tall claims were made by his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as well in the early 1970s. He vowed to develop the atomic bomb to fight India after Pakistan’s humiliating loss in two major wars (one in 1965 and one in 1971) to India.
“Pakistan will fight, fight for a thousand years. If India builds the (atom) bomb…(Pakistan) will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own (atom bomb). We (Pakistan) have no other Choice!” he had infamously said.
He repeated the same lines on learning about the success of ‘Operation Smiling Buddha’, India’s successful testing of the nuclear bomb in Pokhran in Rajasthan. His firm resolve indeed paved the way for Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation programme.
Before the ‘ambitious’ Pakistani politician could see the end of the decade, he was executed by his own military general Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. And thus followed a harrowing tale of Islamism, foreign debt and the Pakistani military drying out the coffers of the State.
The ‘Land of the Pure’, as envisaged by its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has nuclear bombs today but not enough resources to feed its impoverished citizens. Such has been the prophecy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, five decades earlier.
But there is something to note – The determination to avenge India through one or other nefarious design (popularly known as Ghazwa-e-Hind) remains consistent. And the trend has not changed in the past 76 years and is unlikely to change in the future as well.
Despite claims to do course correction on terrorism and proxy wars, Pakistan and its leaders seem unable to detach themselves from the notion of seeking revenge from India (as recently suggested by Bilawal Bhutto as well).
It is thus clear that Pakistan does not seek peace with India. It has backstabbed us whenever we tried to extend the olive branch. The Kargil War of 1999, the Mumbai terror attack of 2008, the Uri and Pathankot attacks and the Pulwama suicide bombing attacks are a testimony to its sinister agenda.
While the ‘Aman ki Asha’ brigade and Op-ed writers continue to berate S Jaishankar and India’s foreign policy, the approach undertaken by the External Affairs Minister at the SCO Summit shows that India is firm in its resolve in exposing Pakistan before the world stage.
For a beleaguered nation that clearly did not learn its lesson in the past 76 years, the ‘Aman ki Asha’ facade cannot hide the truth that peace is impossible with Pakistan. India can and should not have any cultural exchange till terror export from Pakistan to India stops.
