Pakistan on Wednesday reacted to external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s recent remarks against the country, saying that diplomats should aim to promote peace and harmony, rather than “producing bellicose punchlines”.
“Pakistan categorically rejects the irresponsible remarks made by the External Affairs Minister of India during different media engagements in Brussels,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
“The discourse of top diplomats should aim to promote peace and harmony, rather than producing bellicose punchlines. The tone and tenor of a Foreign Minister should be commensurate with his dignified status,” it added.
Also Read | ‘Terrorism will haunt you’: S Jaishankar brings up Osama bin Laden in fresh warning about Pakistan
Islamabad also claimed that India has been engaged in a “malicious campaign” to mislead the international community through a “fictitious narrative of victimhood”.
Pakistan accused India of “concocting misleading narratives” to justify its recent “aggressive actions”.
“Pakistan believes in peaceful coexistence, dialogue and diplomacy. However, it stands resolute in its intent and ability to safeguard its sovereignty against any aggression, as exemplified by its robust response to India’s reckless strikes last month,” the statement said.
What S Jaishankar said
S Jaishankar spoke about the recent global coverage of the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir, in which 26 lives were lost.
According to ANI, Jaishankar pushed back against the narrative that equates India’s response with regional tension.
Also Read | Pak hikes defence spending by 20% in budget amid tense relations with India
“Let me remind you of something – there was a man named Osama bin Laden. Why did he, of all people, feel safe living for years in a Pakistani military town, right next to their equivalent of West Point?” he said.
“I want the world to understand – this isn’t merely an India-Pakistan issue. It’s about terrorism. And that very same terrorism will eventually come back to haunt you.”
Earlier on Monday, S Jaishankar had said that India will not hesitate to strike back no matter how deep in Pakistan terror targets are.
Also Read | Shashi Tharoor: ‘Our message to Pak was if you react, we will also react’
“If they are deep in Pakistan, we will go deep into Pakistan,” Jaishankar said in the POLITICO interview.
“It [Pakistan] is a country very steeped in its use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. That is the whole issue,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying. When asked whether the conditions that triggered last month’s hostilities still existed, he said, “If you call the commitment to terrorism a source of tension, absolutely, it is,” he added.
India’s Operation Sindoor
Operation Sindoor was India’s direct military response to the April 22 terror strike at Pahalgam in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians in what was the worst attack on civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai strikes.
India launched the operation in the early hours of May 7, targeting nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The pre-dawn strikes – which killed at least 100 terrorists – sparked a series of attacks and counter attacks across the western border, involving fighter jets, missiles, armed drones, and fierce artillery and rocket duels.
In one such counterattack on the night of May 9-10, the air force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. After four days of fighting, military hostilities were stopped on May 10 as the two nations reached an understanding.
