Jaishankar sets red lines on Pakistan, blames UPA for soft stance and China access
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Take your experience further with Premium access. Thought-provoking Opinions, Expert Analysis, In-depth Insights and other Member Only BenefitsExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday outlined India’s firm red lines for dealing with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the future, citing diplomatic efforts following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 as evidence of success.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Monday during a special discussion on India’s decisive Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar also blamed the Congress-led UPA government for being ‘soft’ on Pakistan and allowing China access to the Indian market.
Here are the 10 takeaways from Jaishankar’s speech:
The need for Operation Sindoor: A strong and resolute message needed to be sent after the Pahalgam attack as India’s ‘red lines’ had been crossed. Apart from the military action Indus Water Treaty of 1960 has been held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
A new normal: Post Operation Sindoor, there is a new normal and it has five points: terrorists will not be treated as proxies; cross-border terrorism will get an appropriate response; terror and talks are not possible together and talks will be only on terror; not yielding to nuclear blackmail; finally, terror and good neighbourliness cannot coexist-- blood and water cannot flow together.
Diplomatic effort: The world was told that India would have ‘zero tolerance’ of terrorism and had the right to defend Its people against terrorism. The UN Security Council (UNSC) agreed on the need for affixing accountability, and also on the need to bring to justice, the perpetrators, organisers, financers and sponsors of the terror attack. The Resistance Front was designated as a global terrorist organisation by the US government.
International support: About 35-40 letters of support had come in after the Pahalgam terror attack, and narrative was prepared diplomatically for the launch of Operation Sindoor. And as a result of diplomacy; there are a 193 members of the United Nations – only three, apart from Pakistan, opposed Operation Sindoor.
No mediation was clearly told to US: Amid the global support, India made it clear to all those who called to express support that there will be no mediation, anything between India and Pakistan is bilateral. Vice President JD Vance called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, warning of a massive Pakistani attack in the next few hours. On May 10 (after IAF hit 11 Pakistan air bases), India’s position was clear, if Pakistan was ready for ceasefire, we needed to get this request from the Pakistani side through the DGMO channel. That is exactly how the request came.
No linkage to India-US trade: Jaishankar reiterated that at no stage there was a conversation with the United States, and there no linkage with trade and the ongoing operations. Secondly, there was no talk between the PM Modi and Donald Trump from the April 22 -- when the US President called up to convey his sympathy -- and June 17, when he called up Modi in Canada to explain why he could not meet.
Chides opposition on why no action post 26/11: Why the UPA-led government stopped from taking action and why did you not go further (to attack Pakistan), asked the minister. He cited a book authored by the National Security Advisor of the UPA regime that said “on sober reflection and in hindsight, I now believe that decision not to retaliate militarily, but to concentrate on diplomatic, covert and other means was the right one for that time and place”.
Pakistan-China two front threat: It started in 1963, when the Shaksgam Valley was ceded by Pakistan to China as a result of an agreement. Then in 1966, the Karakoram Highway was agreed upon, which was completed in 1986. The dangers of Pakistan-China collaboration have existed since 60 years. India, in 2005, designated China as a strategic partner. Jaishankar said he went to China for work, on making position clear on de-escalation, trade restrictions and about terrorism. “I did not go to China for secret agreements, the Doklam crisis (2017) was on. The Leader of Opposition decided to get a briefing from the Chinese Ambassador.
Infra and tech: Chinese 3G and 4G technology was allowed to come in. It was the Modi Government which made sure that there was a ‘Made in India’ 5G. Our military is able to stand its ground, the kind of massive deployment that we saw on the China border after 2020, it is because our border infrastructure budget has gone up 4 times, our tunneling, our road building, our bridge building has doubled or tripled.
Pakistan enjoyed IMF bailouts: Pakistan is a serial borrower. In 2008, Pakistan got a standby arrangement of 9.70 billion dollars. In 2013, it got another one of 5.9 billion dollars. The $7 billion package okayed in 2024 is lesser than the $15 billion package okayed during UPA. The longest Pakistan has been under the financial action task force (FATF) grey list has been under the tenure of the Modi Government. During the Modi Government, from 2018 to 2022, 1576 days, Pakistan was in the grey list.