New Delhi, July 28: India’s military action against Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack marked a “new normal” in combatting cross-border terrorism with a five-point approach that included a firm response to terror acts, not yielding to nuclear blackmail and that blood and water cannot flow together, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
During a special discussion on Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar also vehemently asserted that Washington did not play any role in ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May and said there was no phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump during those crucial weeks.
Though a combative Jaishankar took on the previous Congress governments on a range of issues, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and the policy on China and Pakistan, a major highlight of his nearly-40-minute address was his articulation of the “new normal” in combatting terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
“The challenge of cross-border terrorism continues, but Operation Sindoor marks a new phase. There is now a new normal. The new normal has five points,” he said.
Explaining the new normal, he added, “One: terrorists will not be treated as proxies, two: cross-border terrorism will get an appropriate response, three: terror and talks are not possible together and there will only be talks on terror, four: not yielding to nuclear blackmail and finally, terror and good neighbourliness cannot coexist, blood and water cannot flow together. This is our position.”
The external affairs minister also called for a united approach within India in dealing with terrorism, saying it was best reflected when parliamentary delegations visited various countries to apprise them of Operation Sindoor and India’s policy on terrorism.
“We can only succeed in ensuring zero tolerance against terrorism if we have a united voice in this country against terrorism. There must not be any division of opinion on this matter,” he said.
“The way the parliamentary delegations behaved abroad, I hope the same solidarity will permeate the proceedings in the House,” Jaishankar said.
Another highlight of the external affairs minister’s address was his assertion that Washington had no direct role in ending the military conflict between India and Pakistan.
He said Modi had a phone conversation with Trump on April 22, the day of the Pahalgam attack, and another on June 17, when the prime minister was in Canada. There was no call in between, he noted.
Jaishankar also said trade did not figure in any discussion between India and the United States during that period.
At no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage with trade and what was going on, he said.
Trump repeatedly claimed that he used trade to stop the military conflict between the two nuclear powers. (PTI)
