External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this on Friday that the ‘era of uninterrupted dialogue’ with the neighbour is over. Addressing a book launch event in New Delhi, Jaishankar said that there are ‘actions have consequences’ and therefore the course of India-Pakistan relations will now be determined by events.
Jaishankar’s comments had a clear message for Pakistan, especially on the issue of terrorism from its soil. He repeated the same words that India will not dialogue while it continues to be attacked by terrorists. “The idea of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is now over,” Jaishankar said, adding that the scrapping of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir is no longer reversible. “As far as J&K is concerned, Article 370 is over,” he said, adding, “So, the question is what kind of relationship can we think of with Pakistan.”
The minister went on record to state that India will not sit idly when it comes to matters of Pakistan. “Perhaps yes or perhaps no,” was the answer when the question was put to him whether India is satisfied with the existing relationship with Pakistan. ‘What I want to say is that we are not inert and whichever way the event turns, positive or negative, we shall respond,’ Jaishankar emphasised.
Jaishankar’s remarks are in the backdrop of the hostile relations between India and Pakistan that are mainly due to the issue of the disputed territory of Kashmir and terrorism. India has always stated that it wants normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan but has always emphasised that the latter must stop sponsoring terrorism and hostility for such relations to be possible.
The minister’s stand is also in tune with India’s policy of zero tolerance to cross-border terrorism. He has in the past referred to Pakistan’s support for terrorism as almost industry level, and has been very categorical that India will not turn a blind eye to such threats.
