Jaishankar’s stern warning to Pakistan from US: ‘India will exercise every right to defend its people’
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar issued a stern warning to Pakistan, saying India reserves every right to defend its people against terrorism. Speaking from Washington DC ahead of the Quad foreign ministerial meeting, Jaishankar said India will “exercise that right,” asserting that the world must display zero tolerance towards terrorism.
With his counterparts from the United States, Australia and Japan listening, Jaishankar also said that India expects its Quad partners to understand and appreciate its position on dealing with terrorism.
“The world must display zero tolerance [towards terrorism]. Victims and perpetrators must never be equated and India has every right to defend its people against terrorism. And we will exercise that right. We expect our Quad partners to understand and appreciate that,” Jaishankar said.
The external affairs minister also underlined the need to ensure freedom of choice for countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Also Read | In fresh warning, Jaishankar reminds Pakistan of ‘a man named Osama bin Laden’
“It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice so essential to make right decisions on development and security. We are all committed to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” EAM Jaishankar said.
“In the last several months, we have made significant progress in Quad initiatives. They include in the maritime domain, logistics, education and political coordination. We will be discussing that in greater detail,” he said.
He said Quad will deliver better if it is more “cohesive, nimble and focused”. “Quad is about deepening our convergence and expanding our common ground. I value our consultations on different dimensions of the Indo-Pacific in that regard,” Jaishankar said.
EAM Jaishankar said India plans to host the next Quad summit and it has some proposals on how to make it productive. Jaishankar is visiting the US from June 30 to July 2 at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
