New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan was not ‘conflict in Kashmir’ and so would be like keeping the Pahalgam attack and keeping the victim at the same level. He said that the purpose of the ‘horrific’ attack in Pahalgam was ‘to create a sense of fear’, destroying the tourism area of Jammu and Kashmir and ‘to create religious differences’. Jaishankar made this comment during a dialogue session at the ‘German Council on Foreign Relations’ in Berlin late Friday evening. When asked about the “international implications of struggle in Kashmir”, he replied, “First, it was not a struggle in Kashmir, it was a terrorist attack.” Jaishankar said, “A terrorist attack, which is part of a pattern that has targeted not only the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir but also other parts of India.” He said, “It is very important to clarify because when you present it as a struggle, you really keep the criminal and the victim at the same level, without any intentions.” The Foreign Minister said, “Therefore it was a frightening, especially cruel terrorist attack as its aim was to create a sense of fear and destroy the tourism economy of Kashmir.” He was in Berlin in the third and final phase of his three -country visit to Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. Jaishankar said in his address that India targeted “terrorist bases” in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam attack. He said, “We were responding to terrorism and when we respond to such an attack, I think there was a lot of international understanding in it.” Jaishankar also cited a statement issued by the United Nations Security Council, stating that those who have carried out this (terrorist attack) should be brought under the purview of justice. He said, “And we did it right on 7 May. So we targeted terrorist bases. And our campaign is against terrorism.” He said, “Now, terrorists were in the neighboring country in this case, because the neighboring country has used terrorism as a tool for many years.” Jaishankar said, “When it comes to terrorism, I think there is no country in reality that says that I support what has been done, or there is no country that says that I do not condemn what has been done.” Jaishankar said that Germany also recognizes India’s right to rescue against terrorism. He also advocated more cooperation between India and Europe in the Indo-Pacific region. He said, “The Hind-Pacific region has its own issues, security is one of them. But I would really like to point to a different concept, that is how to provide more options to the countries of the Indian region.”
Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor … What did External Affairs Minister Jaishankar say?
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