India wants a definitive end to terrorism: Jaishankar

New Delhi: India wants a “definitive end” to terrorism and it will again hit terrorists in Pakistan in response to any future terror strikes like the one in Pahalgam last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

He said the “most notorious” terrorists on the United Nations sanctions list are all in Pakistan and they operate in the big cities in that country in broad daylight.

“The state is involved. The (Pakistan) army is up to its neck in it,” he said.

The India-Pakistan understanding on cessation of hostilities was arrived at following direct negotiations between the two sides, Jaishankar said against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington played a role in brokering the truce.

Jaishankar made the remarks in separate interviews to Dutch broadcaster NOS and De Volkskrant.

He said that India will hit terrorists in in case of another terror attack, suggesting that it was the reason why has not been concluded.

Jaishankar was in The Hague as part of his three nation tour of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

“The operation continues because there is a clear message in that operation ‘“ that if there are acts of the kind we saw on April 22, there will be a response, that we will hit the terrorists,” he told NOS.

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“If the terrorists are in Pakistan, we will hit them where they are. So, there is a message in continuing the operation but continuing the operation is not the same as firing on each other,” he said.

The external affairs minister said one should not go along with the narrative that Pakistan does not know what is going on within that country.

“The most notorious terrorists on the United Nations (UN) sanctions list are all in Pakistan. They operate in the big cities, in broad daylight.

Their addresses are known,” he told De Volkskrant.

“Their activities are known. Their mutual contacts are known. So let’s not pretend that Pakistan is not involved. The state is involved. The army is up to its neck in it,” he said.

Under Operation Sindoor, carried out precision strikes on nine terror infrastructures early on May 7 in response to the April 22 terror attack.

Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Pakistani attempts were strongly responded to by the Indian side.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on May 10 announced that India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect.

In his remarks, Jaishankar said the arrangement on cessation of hostilities was firmed up by the Indian and the Pakistani sides.

“When two countries are engaged in a conflict, it is natural that countries in the world call up and try to sort of indicate their concern,” he said.

Jaishankar added: “But the cessation of firing and military action was something which was negotiated directly between India and Pakistan.”

“We made one thing very clear to everybody who spoke to us, not just the US but to everybody, saying if the Pakistanis want to stop fighting, they need to tell us. We need to hear it from them. Their general has to call up our general and say this. And that is what happened.”

Following the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, Trump repeatedly claimed credit for it saying the he played a role in brokering the “ceasefire” between the two sides.

“We want a definitive end to terrorism. Our message is therefore: yes, the ceasefire has put an end to military actions against each other for now, but if the terrorist attacks from Pakistan continue, there will be consequences,” he said.

“The Pakistanis must understand that very well,” he said, adding for India, terrorism is an “unacceptable international crime” that should not be condoned or justified.

In his comments, Jaishankar described the Pahalgam attack as “barbaric” and the terrorists “murdered” the innocent civilians in front of their families after ascertaining their “faith” with an aim to to create “religious discord”.

“It was imperative that we have a response because the lack of response…was impossible in such a situation,” he said.

Jaishankar said India is willing to hold talks with Pakistan on return of the illegally occupied part of Kashmir by that country to New Delhi and on terrorism.

Asked about security concerns emanating from frontiers along China and Pakistan on India’s economic growth, Jaishankar indicated that economic growth and security are part of the same coin.

“Our security challenges were far more threatening than yours (Europe’s). So we had to prioritise security. You don’t choose between security and economic prosperity. Today, you are realising that they are part of the same coin.”

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