Terrorism an ‘open business’ in Pakistan, says Jaishankar; rubbishes nuke war claims

Refuting the widespread claims that India and Pakistan were at the edge of using nuclear weapons during the recent skirmish, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar has said at "no point was a nuclear level reached".

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Jaishankar, in an interview to ‘Faz’, a German newspaper, answered the question if India and Pakistan were close to using the nuclear option during the skirmish (May 7- 10) saying, “We were very, very far from using the nuclear option.”

“At no point was a nuclear level reached. There is a narrative as if everything that happens in our part of the world leads directly to a nuclear problem,” said the minister. He added, “This disturbs me a lot because it encourages activities like terrorism”.

His refuted the claim of US President Donald Trump, who said he had ‘averted’ a nuclear-armed clash between the two neighbours.

The Ministry of External Affairs shared the English transcript of Jaishankar’s interview on Monday.

He said, “India targeted only terrorist camps. Those were very measured, carefully considered and non-escalating steps. After that, the Pakistani military opened fire on us. We were able to show them that we could disable their air defence systems. Then the firing stopped at their request.”

The minister blamed Pakistan for abetting terrorism. “In Pakistan, terrorism is a very open business. A business that is supported, financed, organised and used by the state. And by their military.”

Asked if China played a role in the conflict with Pakistan, Jaishankar said, “Many of the weapon systems that Pakistan has are of Chinese origin and the two countries are very close. You can draw your own conclusions from that.”

The cessation of firing was agreed between the military commanders of India and Pakistan through direct contact, Jaishankar said answering questions if the US had brokered a peace deal.

On India’s maintaining ties with Russia and not agreeing to sanctions, the Minister said that relationships are built on finding a common ground. Europe, when it thinks of conflict, it thinks of Ukraine. “When I think of conflict, I think of Pakistan, terrorism, China and our borders. Our perspective cannot be the same.”

On being asked if Russia’s military activities were against the rules, the minister said, “You talk about rules and think of Ukraine. I talk about rules and I think of my own borders, of Pakistan, which has violated my borders, and China, which has done the same. So when you talk about borders and territorial integrity, I ask you: What about my borders?”