On Saturday (23rd March), External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar launched a scathing attack on India’s neighbours Pakistan and China during an event held in Singapore. While he slammed China for staking claims over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, Dr. Jaishankar stressed that India cannot “overlook” terrorism to resume ties with Pakistan.
In India, the mood is not to overlook terrorism: EAM Jaishankar on Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorism
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 23, 2024
Notably, Dr. Jaishankar is currently in Singapore on a three-day visit. On Saturday, he delivered a lecture at the prestigious NUS Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore.
During a Q&A session, he criticised China for repeatedly making claims on the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and dismissed Beijing’s claims as “ludicrous”. The Foreign Minister asserted that the frontier state was a “natural part of India”.
EAM Jaishankar slams China. Calls Beijing's claims on Arunachal Pradesh "Ludicrous"#SJaishankar #ArunchalPradesh pic.twitter.com/ZhlwKTk9vu
— WION (@WIONews) March 23, 2024
Responding to a query on Arunchal Pradesh, Jaishankar said, “This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today as it is a natural part of India.”
Reportedly, it was the first public comment by the Indian Foreign Minister in the wake of frequent claims by Beijing over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and its opposition to Indian leaders visiting the Indian frontline state.
Earlier, India had dismissed China’s “absurd” claims. The MEA stated that we have noted the comments made by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh.
In a statement, the MEA asserted, “Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects.”
The development came after the Chinese foreign ministry had objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
In a separate response last week, the MEA responded stating, “We reject the comments made by the Chinese side regarding the visit of the Prime Minister to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India.”
Pakistan sponsoring terrorism as state-craft on ‘industry level’, India ‘will not overlook’ it: Dr. Jaishankar in Singapore
While responding to a query on Pakistan, the Indian Foreign Minister underlined that Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism and using it as an “instrument of statecraft”. He added that Pakistan has sustained terrorism at an industry level with proper assembly line (of terrorists to harm India). He further asserted that people and government in India are no looking in mood to overlook it.
Regarding India-Pakistan ties, he pointed out that every country wants a stable neighbourhood…if nothing else everyone want at least a quiet neighbourhood. However, unfortunately, it is not the same with India, he added.
Jaishankar asked, “How do you deal with a neighbour who does not hide the fact that they use terrorism as an instrument of statecraft? It’s not a one-off happening…but very sustained, almost at an industry level…So what we have come to conclude is that we have to find a way of addressing (the menace), that dodging the problem gets us nowhere, it only invites more trouble.”
Singapore: "They use terrorism as an instrument of statecraft… it's industry level, assembly line.."EAM Jaishankar on Pakistan's support for terror; Adds,'wont skirt the problem..In India mood not to overlook terrorism' pic.twitter.com/ixjUwCTMfd
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) March 23, 2024
The Minister further stated, “I don’t have a quick instantaneous fix (to this issue). But what I can tell you is that India will not skirt this problem anymore. We are not going to say, ‘well, that happened and let’s continue our dialogue’…we have a problem and we must be honest enough to face up to that problem, however difficult it is…we should not give the other country a free pass, saying there’s nothing they can do about it or it’s a very hard problem, or there’s so much else at stake that let us overlook.”
He emphasised that in India now the mood is not to overlook terrorists.
During a panel discussion earlier this month, Jaishankar said that India never “closed doors” to talking to Pakistan regarding the ties between the two neighbours. However, he emphasised that the terrorism issue should be “fair, square at the centre of the conversation”.
He said, “It is the major issue…I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking.”
Meanwhile, at the event, Jaishankar stated that there is a momentum in India today that has to be experienced to be believed, and he emphasised that the country is poised to become a much larger economy in the coming years.
“Today, it’s a country that builds eight new airports in a year, 28 km of highways every day and for the last 10 years, it has built 2 colleges a day,” Jaishankar said while speaking on his ‘Why Bharat Matters’.
