New Delhi, May 15 – Making India’s longstanding position clear once again, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday said that any issues pertaining to Pakistan will be dealt with Islamabad bilaterally.
“Our relations, our dealings with Pakistan will be bilateral and strictly bilateral. That is the national consensus for many years and there is absolutely no change in that consensus,” EAM Jaishankar told reporters after the inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras in New Delhi.
Over the last few days, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the India-Pakistan conflict, essaying his role as a peacemaker committed to resolving global conflicts. Earlier this week, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had clarified that any issues related to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed bilaterally between India and Pakistan.
“That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian Territory by Pakistan,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters during a weekly media briefing.
The EAM also emphasised that India has achieved “key goals” it set out to accomplish by destroying terrorist infrastructure during Operation Sindoor.
“I think the Prime Minister made it very clear that the only talks with Pakistan will be on terror. Pakistan has a list of terrorists who need to be handed over, they have to shut down the terrorist infrastructure. They know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them what is to be done on terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible,” stated Jaishankar.
Spelling out India’s position on a host of issues following the highly successful Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar highlighted the strong international support India received after the heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent civilians. The Resistance Front (TRF), an international terrorist organisation affiliated with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), had claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Let me say a few things here. One, we actually got a lot of international support. Many ministers, many leaders called the Prime Minister, and many ministers called me as well. We had a Security Council resolution which very clearly stated that the perpetrators of this attack should be held accountable. On the morning of May 7, we held them accountable through the action that was taken through Operation Sindoor,” Jaishankar said.
He also clarified India’s position regarding the cessation of firing and military action.
“We achieved the goals which we set out to do by destroying the terrorist infrastructure. Since key goals were achieved, I think we reasonably took the position — because even at the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorist infrastructure, we are not striking at the military, and the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice. Once they got badly hit on the morning of May 10… Today, the satellite pictures actually bring out graphically how much damage we did and how little damage they did,” he added.
Earlier in the day, while speaking in Srinagar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the ongoing ceasefire understanding is respected by India only as long as no terrorist attacks take place in the country. He also stated that it was time the nuclear facility of Pakistan was brought under global watchdog oversight.
Addressing Indian Army soldiers at the Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar — headquarters of the Army’s 15 Corps — Rajnath Singh said, “Our Operation Sindoor is undoubtedly the biggest anti-terrorist operation ever undertaken by India. We hit their chest and left a huge wound on it after they tried to attack our head.”
