‘Let’s not pretend Pakistan is not involved’: Jaishankar says Islamabad’s narrative should be dismissed

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said he is not merely suggesting but in fact, stating, that Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism. He said their state is involved and their army is up to its neck on it. 

Jaishankar, in an interview to Dutch newspaper, De Volkskrant, said that while the India-Pakistan ceasefire is in place, there will be consequences if terrorist attacks from Pakistan continue. “The Pakistanis must understand that very well,” he said. 

Referring to his earlier statements wherein he called Pakistan “an epicentre of terrorism”, Jaishankar said, “I am not suggesting that, I am stating that. Suppose that there were large military centres in the middle of a city like Amsterdam where tens of thousands of people gathered for military training, would you say that your government knows nothing about that? Of course not.” 

“We should not go along with the narrative that Pakistan does not know what is going on. The most notorious terrorists on the United Nations (UN) sanctions list are all in Pakistan. They operate in the big cities, in broad daylight. Their addresses are known. Their activities are known. Their mutual contacts are known. So let's not pretend that Pakistan is not involved. The state is involved. The army is up to its neck in it,” he said. 

Jaishankar said the terrorists attacked Jammu and Kashmir’s “vibrant tourism industry”, and clearly so for their own “very limited, selfish purposes”. He said the attack was deliberately given a religious tint. The terrorists had ascertained the civilians’ faith before shooting the Hindus. 

“Our position is that the illegal occupiers should return their illegally occupied parts to the rightful owner. And that is us,” he said.

Speaking about if the international community could mediate, Jaishankar said “it is a bilateral issue between the countries involved”. He said the resolution to the India-Pakistan conflict is something India would “do together with Pakistan”.