New Delhi, Dec 6 External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said that a significant share of India's challenges, including terrorism, stems from the Pakistani Army, asserting that while the threat exists, New Delhi will "deal with it".
Speaking to NDTV's CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, at the HT Leadership Summit, the EAM said ideological hostility towards India continues to originate from Pakistan's military establishment.
"When you look at the terrorism, when you look at the training camps, when you look at the sort of policy of a kind of, I would say, almost ideological hostility towards India, where does that come from? It comes from the army. I can only say that at the end of the day, look at the state of Pakistan and, you know, see the differentials and the capabilities and, frankly, the reputation on either side. I think, look, we should not get over-obsessed and hyphenate ourselves with them," EAM Jaishankar said.
Asked about Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir, the minister stated, "Like there are good terrorists and bad terrorists, there are good military leaders and not-so-good ones."
On India's targeted military response, Operation Sindoor, against high-value terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack, EAM Jaishankar explained that India functions under a unique framework of norms and responsibility.
"I think where India is concerned, there are things we do, and there are things we don't. We have rules, we have norms. If we take any step, we are accountable in this country, to the people, to the media, to the civil society. I think it would be unreal to compare ourselves with them, and in many ways, we would be doing ourselves an injustice," he said, when asked if the operation could have been carried out differently.
Responding to questions about former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, EAM Jaishankar said her decision to stay in India was shaped by the circumstances under which she arrived.
Hasina fled to India in August last year after her democratically elected government collapsed amid violent unrest that left hundreds dead and thousands injured. She was recently sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal in Dhaka for "crimes against humanity" relating to her administration's harsh suppression of student-led protests.
When asked if she could stay in India "as long as she wants", EAM Jaishankar said, "Well, that's a different issue, isn't it? She came here in a certain circumstance, and I think that circumstance clearly is a factor in what happens to her. But again, that is something in which she has to make up her mind."
He expressed optimism about the future of India-Bangladesh ties, underscoring India's democratic expectations for its neighbour.
"As far as we are concerned, we wish Bangladesh well. We think as a democratic country, any democratic country likes to see the will of the people ascertained through a democratic process," he said.
"And I am quite confident that whatever comes out of the democratic process would have a balanced and mature view about the relationship, and hopefully things would improve," he added.
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