NEW DELHI (TIP): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday asserted that India “has every right to defend its people against neighbors that persist with terrorism”, underlining that no country can expect the benefits of cooperation, including water-sharing, while simultaneously pursuing violence against India.
Speaking at an interaction with students at IIT Madras, Jaishankar, without naming Pakistan, said India’s neighborhood challenges were aggravated by the “deliberate, sustained and unrepentant” use of terrorism as state policy by one of its western neighbors.
“India’s growth is a lifting tide for the region, and most of our neighbors recognize that if India grows, they grow with us. But when it comes to bad neighbors who persist with terrorism, India has every right to defend its people and will do whatever is necessary. You cannot ask us to share our water with you and also spread terrorism in our country,” he said.
Referring obliquely to the Indus Waters Treaty, Jaishankar said good neighborliness could not exist in the presence of decades of cross-border terrorism. “Many years ago, we agreed to a water-sharing arrangement, but if you have decades of terrorism, there is no good neighborliness. If there is no good neighborliness, you don’t get the benefits of that good neighborliness. You can’t say, ‘Please share water with me, but I will continue terrorism with you.’ That’s not reconcilable,” he said.
The minister said while countries could have difficult neighbors, India’s case was unique because terrorism had been weaponized as a conscious policy choice. “If a country decides that it will deliberately, persistently and unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people against terrorism. We will exercise that right,” he said.
At the same time, Jaishankar drew a sharp contrast between India’s approach to “bad neighbors” and its engagement with cooperative ones. With “good neighbors”, he said, India had consistently invested, helped and shared resources — citing vaccine supplies during the Covid pandemic, fuel and food support amid the Ukraine conflict, and nearly $4 billion in assistance extended to Sri Lanka during its recent financial crisis.
Jaishankar said he had been in Bangladesh earlier this week to represent India at the funeral of former PM Khaleda Zia, underscoring India’s continued diplomatic engagement in the region.“More broadly, our approach to the neighborhood is guided by common sense. With good neighbors, India invests, helps and shares,” he said.
The External Affairs Minister also emphasized the importance of clear communication in foreign policy to prevent India’s intentions from being misread. “How to prevent people from misreading you is to communicate — clearly and honestly. If you do that, other countries respect it and accept it,” he said.
(Source: ANI)
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