New Delhi/Islamabad, May 5: Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has called his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the “promoter, justifier and spokesperson of a terrorism industry”.
“Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism,” Mr Jaishankar said after a meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa.
“Bhutto Zardari came as Foreign Minister of a SCO member state; that’s part of multilateral diplomacy and we don’t see anything more than that,” Mr Jaishankar said.
The two foreign ministers did not hold a bilateral at the SCO meeting.
“On terrorism, Pakistan’s credibility is depleting even faster than its forex reserves,” Mr Jaishankar said in a clear swipe at Pakistan’s struggle with a huge financial crisis that has forced the country to knock from door to door for loans.
Mr Jaishankar’s comments come on a day when five Indian Army soldiers were killed in action during an operation to find terrorists hiding in a forest near Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch. The terrorists, suspected to be Pakistanis, had ambushed an army truck last week, killing five other soldiers.
India has umpteen times showed proof of Pakistan’s active involvement in supporting terrorism on its soil to arm and send terrorists to Jammu and Kashmir. UN designated global terrorist Masood Azhar, 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and many others are in Pakistan.
Mr Zardari, the son of assassinated Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is the first Pakistani Foreign Minister to visit India in nearly 12 years. In 2011, then Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had visited India. The last minister-level visit from Pakistan was in 2016 by Sartaj Aziz.
At the SCO meeting, Mr Jaishankar called for united efforts to fight terrorism. He said taking eyes off terrorism would be bad for the SCO.
“We must not allow anybody – individual or state – to hide behind non-state actors… While the world was engaged in facing Covid and its consequences, the menace of terrorism continued unabated. Taking our eyes of this menace would be detrimental to our security interests,” Mr Jaishankar said.
Zardari’s Speech
In his speech at Goa conclave, Bilawal Bhutto Zardarisaid: “The collective security of our peoples is our joint responsibility. Terrorism continues to threaten global security. Let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring.”
“When I speak on this topic, I do so not only as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan whose people have suffered the most in terms of number of attacks and number of casualties. I also speak as the son whose mother was assassinated at the hands of terrorists. I feel the pain of this loss, empathize with victims across the world a way most can’t. I and my country are firmly committed to be part of regional and global efforts for eradicating this menace. This requires not only a comprehensive approach but also a collective approach. It demands we address the root causes as well as the threats posed by specific groups. It requires that we let this challenge unite us to fight it rather than divide us to become its victim. Our success requires us to isolate this issue from geo-political partisanship.”
“Practical, pragmatic solutions exist for us to put an end to this chapter once and for all. We must stop conflating non-state actors with state actors. Condemn all forms of terrorism including state sponsored terrorism. Given that many SCO members confront the menace of terrorism, often from the same terrorist groups, the SCO RATS needs to be further strengthened to effectively address the growing threats to peace and security in the SCO space.”
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