1 July 2025 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has sent out a clear signal to Pakistan and the world in his latest interview, that India no longer differentiates between terror proxies and their sponsor countries.
He described the Pahalgam attack in which 27 civilians, mostly tourists from different parts of India, were killed, as “an act of economic warfare”. “It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy,” he said in an interview with the US magazine Newsweek in New York. “It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed,” he added.
He explained India’s tough stance thereafter under Operation Sindoor, which saw India using its air force to destroy specific structures and terror launchpads in multiple towns in Pakistan. “We decided we cannot let terrorists function with impunity. The idea that they are on that side of the border and that, therefore, prevents retribution, is a proposition that needs to be challenged, and that is what we did.”
He said the terror infrastructure in Pakistan was no secret anyway. “Terrorist organisations have the equivalent of their corporate headquarters in the populated towns of Pakistan. Everybody knows what is the headquarters… and those are actually the buildings we destroyed.” He said India will no longer spare the government which supports and finances “and, in many ways, motivates those terror organisations”.
He also rejected an offer of talks with Pakistan on anything except ending terrorism and said India would strike again if needed. This is in line with Indian PM Narendra Modi’s assertion that Operation Sindoor was still on.
Jaishankar, a career diplomat who is now considered one of India’s top political functionaries on the global stage, further said, “We think it’s very clear the Pakistani state is up to its eyeballs in this one.”
‘No more nuclear blackmail’
He reiterated that “nuclear blackmail” will no longer prevent India from responding. “We have also heard this for too long, that ‘you are both nuclear countries, therefore the other guys will come and do horrible things, but you mustn’t do anything because it gets the world worried.’ Now we are not going to fall for that,” he laid out.
He stressed that no one should take the view that “one terrorist act or one terrorist organisation or one sponsor of terrorism is justified”: “The message to the world has to be that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism, that there should be no circumstances, no excuse, no justification under which you would allow, support, finance, sponsor terrorist acts.”
In India’s particular case, he said, “Our experience has been very, very intense for the last four decades. Actually it started from the time of Independence… We’ve now reached a point — in many ways (after) the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 — that the sentiment in India (is) that enough is enough.”
India’s role as a bridge, Russia-Ukraine in focus
He also spoke about India’s global standing. “(There’s been) a rebalancing in the world, accelerated by globalisation, and we are heading towards… an era of multipolarity (with) many centres of power and influence, which are autonomous of each other and pursue their particular interests,” he explained.
As for India’s role in this, he said, “We would definitely have a lot to offer, not just as the most populated country in the world, but the largest pool of talent in an era where talent and human resources is going to count for more — the era of AI (Artificial Intelligence). I think we would also have something special to contribute to the world as a democracy, as a very diverse society, a society which has valued and nurtured its diversity.”
He underlined that India is “aiming to play the role of a bridge”.
Here, he referred to India’s pro-peace stance in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“How many countries are able to pick up the phone and talk to Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Iran, or the Global North and Global South? I would suggest to you there are not that many,” he said.
India, he added, has a multifarious role: “We are a political democracy, a market economy, a pluralistic society, a voice of the Global South, but we are not anti-West. We get along, we participate, we attend the G7 meetings. In fact, from here I’m going on to Washington for a meeting of the Quad, and from there I’m going on to a meeting of the BRICS. So I think that should tell you something.”
US-India relations, and a potential deal
Asked about the relationship between the US led by Donald Trump and India led by PM Narendra Modi, Jaishankar spoke of the longer term as well as “particularly the last 10-11 year”.
“Just think back over the last five presidents of America. (Bill) Clinton, George W Bush, (Barack) Obama, Trump, (Joe) Biden, back to Trump — five very different presidents. And yet, at the end of every presidency, if you were to do a dipstick on India-US relations, you’ll find it’s better off than it was at the beginning of that presidency,” he said. “Because, I think there are structural factors that work for the relationship, that the economics, the technology, the human bridges, the education, the security, the energy, all these are today drivers of the relationship.”
He conceded that there are arguments or differences: “Are there episodes? Sure, it happens… In fact, at every one of these presidencies, I can think of something which at that time was a friction point… I think what matters is the ability to deal with it and to keep that trend going in the positive direction.”
He referred specifically to the potential trade deal between the two countries: “We are in the middle, hopefully more than the middle, of a very intricate trade negotiation.Obviously, my hope would be that we bring it to a successful conclusion. I cannot guarantee it because there’s another party to that discussion… And we’ll have to find a kind of a meeting ground there. I believe it’s possible.”
Summary:
EAM S. Jaishankar warned that Pakistan’s military-state openly sponsors terrorism, calling it “Terroristan” and asserting India won’t fall for nuclear blackmail or tolerate terror safe havens. Global unity is essential.