Pakistani army chief driven by extreme religious outlook, says S Jaishankar 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an interview to foreign media, said the Pakistani army chief is driven by extreme religious outlook. He said India had to retaliate to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 of its civilians, based on their religion. 

Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS, said the entire India-Pakistan conflict started because of the Pahalgam attack. “Look first of all you have to understand what it was all about. It started because it was triggered by a very barbaric terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir where 26 tourists were murdered in front of their families, after their faith was ascertained. It was done to harm the tourism of the state and to create religious discord deliberately,” he said. 

Jaishankar added, “An element of religion was introduced (to the attack) and to understand that you have to see that on the Pakistani side, their leadership, especially their army chief, is very driven by extreme religious outlook. So there is clearly some connect with the views expressed and the behaviour done.”

Ahead of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistani army chief General – now Field Marshal – Asim Munir had called Kashmir their “jugular vein”. "It was our jugular vein, it is our jugular vein, we will not forget it," he said in an address at a conclave of Overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad on April 16. He urged Pakistani people to tell stories to their children so they don’t forget that they are “different from Hindus”. 

"You have to tell Pakistan's story to your children so that they don’t forget that our forefathers thought we were different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life," he said, referring to Pakistan's founder MA Jinnah’s two-nation theory.  "Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different. That was the foundation of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation," he said.

Days after Asim Munir's speech, terrorists opened fire at civilians at Baisaran meadows near Pahalgam, killing 26, mostly tourists. India initiated Operation Sindoor in retaliation in nine locations, known for being terror camps. Pakistan then attacked India with drones and missiles that India successfully intercepted, followed by a counter-attack. 

The External Affairs minister is currently on a three-nation tour to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.