At an interactive session in Pune, regarding his book “Why Bharat Matters” the External Affairs Minister of India, Subramaniam Jaishankar said that if a dangerous event such as the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks were to happen now, and if one does not react, then how can you prevent the next one from happening?
He also said that terrorists shouldn’t feel that no one can touch us, just because they are on the other side of the border. “Terrorists do not play by any rules. The answer to the terrorist cannot have any rules, he said.
When asked about which country India finds it difficult to maintain relations with it, Jaishankar said, “Ek to Bagal Mein Hai” (there is one next door). One of the biggest challenges today and let’s be honest, because all of us know. One very difficult one is Pakistan.
“We should ourselves look at why this is so, one reason for this is us. If we had, from the very start, been clear that Pakistan is using terrorism and this would have been tolerated under any circumstances we would have a very different policy,” he said.
Jaishankar went onto say that PM Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, but this problem did not begin in 2014 nor when Pakistan was attacked in 2008. This started way back in 1947.
“In 1947, when the first people from Pakistan came to Kashmir and attacked it, that was terrorism. Cities and villages were being burnt and they were keeping people on a large scale. These were tribals from Pakistan’s northwest front, whom Pakistan had put up on the frontlines to totally disrupt Kashmir saying we will come after you,” he noted.
“We sent the army and the integration of Kashmir took place. While the Indian Army was taking its action we stopped and went to the UN and mentioned work of tribal invaders instead of terrorism. We have to be very clear in our minds. In no situation terrorism is acceptable or if any neighbour or anybody used terrorism to bring one to the negotiating table,” this should never be accepted.
“Speaking about continuity, in India’s foreign policy, Jaishankar said, there is 50 percent continuity and there is 50 percent change.” That one change is in on terrorism. After the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, there was not a single person who felt that we should have not responded. The then UPA government held various rounds of discussions only to come to the conclusion that attacking Pakistan is more than the cost of not attacking Pakistan.”
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