EAM S Jaishankar's BIG warning to Pakistan: ‘India ready to strike deep, if provoked'

Mint

2 days ago

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has issued a stern warning against future terrorist provocations, reiterating that India will not hesitate to strike back against Pakistan regardless of location.
"And we don't care where they are. If they are deep in Pakistan, we will go deep into Pakistan," Jaishankar said in an interview with Politico during his official visit to Brussels, Belgium, for high-level trade talks with the European Union.
Politico, known originally as The Politico, is an American political digital newspaper company.
Jaishankar's remarks reflect the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's recent stance on cross-border terrorism. Jaishankar, who was in Brussels for high-level trade talks with the European Union, further asserted that Pakistan was training "thousands" of terrorists in the open and unleashing them on its southern neighbour.
On 12 May, Modi asserted that India won't be bogged down by any 'nuclear blackmail' from Pakistan and that the country's military actions against terrorism have only been paused for now.
In his first address to the nation after 'Operation Sindoor', Modi said that the future course of action would depend on Pakistan's behaviour.
'Operation Sindoor' is now India's new policy against terrorism and a new line has been drawn, Modi said.
"We are not going to live with it. So our message to them is that if you continue to do the kind of barbaric acts which they did in April, then there is going to be retribution, and that retribution will be against the terrorist organisations and the terrorist leadership," Jaishankar said in the interview published on 9 June.
As many as 26 people were killed and several others injured in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on 22 April. Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
"It [Pakistan] is a country very steeped in its use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. That is the whole issue," Jaishankar said in the interview. 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."
Jaishankar emphasised that Indian air strikes had severely degraded Pakistan's military infrastructure. "As far as I'm concerned, how effective the Rafale was or frankly, how effective other systems were -- to me, the proof of the pudding is the destroyed and disabled airfields on the Pakistani side," he said when pressed to comment on reports about Rafale gets being downed by Pakistan.
If you continue to do the kind of barbaric acts which they did in April, then there is going to be retribution.
Key Takeaways India's government has adopted a more aggressive military stance against terrorism.
Jaishankar's comments signify a clear message to Pakistan about the consequences of supporting terrorism.
Operation Sindoor represents a strategic shift in India's approach to counter-terrorism.