S Jashankar: Pakistan uses terrorism as legitimate tool of statecraft

Jaishankar was asked about Kashmir and how he looks to manage New Delhiu00e2u0080u0099s relationship with Islamabad, at an event. File pic

New York: Hitting out at Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India cannot talk to a very challenging neighbour that conducts terrorism as a "legitimate tool of statecraft" to put pressure on New Delhi to come to the negotiating table. Addressing an event at leading think tank Council on Foreign Relations here on Wednesday, Jaishankar was asked about Kashmir and how he looks to manage New Delhi's relationship with Islamabad.

"Of course everyone wants to talk to their neighbour. The issue is, how do I talk to a country that is conducting terrorism and which frankly I would say follows a policy of implausible deniability," he said. "They do it, they kind of pretend they don't do it. They know that that pretense is not serious, but yet they do it. So, how do you address that and I think it's a huge challenge for us," he added.

Referring to the terrorist attacks in India planned and conducted from across the border, Jaishankar said Mumbai, which was attacked in November 2008, is a few thousand miles away from Kashmir. Jaishankar said that despite being a neighbour, Pakistan will not trade with India, is a member of the WTO but will not extend MFN status, even though they are legally obliged to and New Delhi did it.

"So it's a very challenging neighbour," he said. "Now, all of that you could still handle if they then don't do the one thing which is actually unacceptable in the world today, which is to conduct terrorism, as in their eyes, a legitimate tool of statecraft as a way of pressuring you to come to the negotiating table. "It's not acceptable today as a sort of norm of international relations anymore. You have terrorism in different parts of the world, but there's no part of the world where the country uses it consciously, deliberately as a large scale industry against its neighbour," he said.

Saeed to get monthly expenses

Pakistan requested the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanding the release of monthly expenses for 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and globally designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The council has 'approved' the letter after no objections were raised to it within the set deadline.

Trump offered to mediate

US President Donald Trump has said that he offered "arbitration or mediation" on the Kashmir issue to the top leadership of India and Pakistan during separate meetings here and the two nuclear-armed neighbours have to "just work it out". "I said, 'Fellas, work it out. Just work it out,'" Trump said in his opening remarks at a news conference on Wednesday after the UNGA session.

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