The ‘rockstar’ and vocal Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar was at his best on May 5 in exposing the Pakistani ‘mindset’ and gave a royal snub to his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the sidelines of two-day long SCO Foreign Ministers’ conference in Goa.
“Let’s be very clear on this. On this matter (terrorism) I would say Pakistan’s credibility is depleting faster than its forex reserves. So let’s be clear what this is about,” said Dr S Jaishankar at a news conference after the meeting, where he was quizzed, including by a Pakistani journalist, on whether Bilawal’s visit to Goa would be considered a ‘breakthrough’ in bilateral ties.
Last Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India in 2011 during the erstwhile UPA dispensation.
Dr S Jaishankar said while the visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister was treated accordingly as a visiting delegate of a SCO member nation, there was nothing much to it from India’s point of view.
Dr S Jaishankar even went on to describe Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a ‘promoter, justifier and spokesperson’ of the terrorism industry.
The unusually harsh words were — “As a promoter, justifier and I am sorry to say as a spokesperson of a terrorism industry, which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his (Bilawal’s) positions were called out and they were countered, including at the SCO meeting itself”.
To the Pakistani journalist, the External Affairs Minister said, “From your question what I could gather is that India and Pakistan should sit together….you know, the Victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism. The victims of terrorism defend themselves, counter terrorism, they call it out. They delegitimise it. That is exactly what is happening”.
“So, to come here (visit India) and preach these hypocritical words as though we are on the same boat ….– I mean they are committing acts of terrorism,” he said.
Maintaining that he didn’t want to “jump the gun” on the death of five soldiers in an explosion at Rajouri on May 5, the External Affairs Minister said, “I don’t want to jump the gun here but I think we are equally feeling outraged”.
Dr S Jaishankar rubbished Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s remarks at a news conference that criticised the holding of a G20 meeting in Srinagar and the abrogation of Article 370. He said Pakistan has no locus standi on
these matters. “We need not discuss anything on G20 with someone who has nothing to do with G20”. Pakistan is not a member of G20.
“Jammu & Kashmir was, is, will be a part of India and G20 meetings are held in all States and union territories of India. So it is completely natural that it is held there,” Dr S Jaishankar insisted.
“There is only one issue to discuss on Kashmir, which is when does Pakistan vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he said. “On Article 370, I have a phrase, which is ‘wake up and smell the coffee’, the [Article] 370 is history. The sooner people realise it, the better”.
Dr S Jaishankar also responded to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s remarks at the SCO meeting on “weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring”, saying it “unconsciously reveals” Pakistan’s mindset. “What does weaponising something mean? It means that the activity is legitimate and somebody is weaponising it…That means they think terrorism is legitimate, that we should not weaponise it,” he said.
Addressing the SCO, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said countries “should not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring”. He also said that countries need to find “practical and pragmatic” solutions to eliminate terrorism.
Reacting to that, Dr S Jaishankar said, “It unconsciously reveals the mindset… Do they mean we will put up with terrorism? That sentence spoke so much about the mindset of that country.”
“He (Bilawal) came here as a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state…Please do not see it as anything more than that…It was not treated as anything more than that and I think nothing from what he said, or what I heard he said, deserves for this to be treated [as] more than that,” Dr S Jaishankar virtually pointedly told the Pakistani journalist.
Dr S Jaishankar also said Pakistan never changed its “playbook” of promoting terrorism and talking of peace. “The playbook is old, only location was new, it was Goa”.
At the formal deliberations in the SCO meeting, Dr S Jaishankar urged members of the grouping to crack down on non-state actors and terror financing. Speaking also in the presence of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Dr S Jaishankar emphasised the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all SCO States in the context of connectivity projects.
