In what should be seen as a well-timed and much-needed move by India, two key cabinet ministers of the Narendra Modi government sent out a stern message to Pakistan on terrorism. While Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) Rajnath Singh issued a veiled warning to Pakistan on terrorism on Monday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar ripped into Islamabad over the issue of cross-border terrorism on Wednesday. Jaishankar went to the extent of signaling that Pakistan should forget about SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) meeting if it does not mend its ways on terrorism. The statements from the two ministers acquire significance as they have come only days after Pakistan criticized the US-India joint statement for calling on Islamabad to ensure its territory is not used as a base for militant attacks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden only last week in Washington strongly condemned “cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks”. With this in view, the remarks made by Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh should be seen as a befitting reply to Pakistan on its objection to the joint statement. The two ministers sort of reminded the international community of the fact that Pakistan continues to be a breeding place for terrorists and continues to be soft on them. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s attack was quite scathing as he said “India is getting more powerful and can hit terror networks on this side of the border as well as across it if the need arises.” Addressing a national security conclave in Jammu, Rajnath said, “Pulwama and Uri were both unfortunate incidents…The prime minister took just 10 minutes to take a decision (on carrying out surgical strikes) which shows his strong willpower. Our forces not only neutralised the terrorists on this side but also went across the border to finish them off.” The very next day, Jaishankar also joined Rajnath in launching a massive verbal attack on Pakistan. At an event, Jaishankar was equally forceful in ripping into Pakistan. He said India would not tolerate a situation where “terrorism happens by night and trade happens by day”. “The fact is that we cannot allow terrorism to be normalised,” he said. He also remarked, “India cannot have a SAARC meeting as long as one member state continues to engage in acts of terrorism.” The External Affairs Minister, in fact, held Pakistan responsible for the situation wherein the SAARC is unable to have its normal activities. Jaishankar signalled that Pakistan should not expect any meeting of the SAARC until it stops sponsoring terrorism. This comes as a major jolt to Pakistan who has been more than eager to have a SAARC meeting as soon as possible. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif once said that Pakistan is “ready to play its part” for the revival of the SAARC. He had said that the people of the SAARC countries are “victims of these missed opportunities”. Pakistan has also been exploring the possibility of creating a greater South Asian economic alliance apparently to counter India’s controlling hold on the eight-member SAARC. But Jaishankar has dashed Pakistan’s hope even to see a meeting of the SAARC, let alone its bigger ambition for the forum’s expansion or something like that. The EAM’s observation on SAARC should also derail Pakistan’s on-going campaign to blame India for “derailing the forum’s normal activities”. Pakistan’s politicians have been alleging that “Because of India’s obstinacy, this forum is suffering”. In this context, Jaishankar’s remarks are quite powerful. “You have not heard very much about SAARC because, in the last few years, there isn’t very much to hear about. We have not had meetings because you have a member of SAARC who doesn’t conform to all the basic requirements of what a good membership is, and that is today an obstacle reality of SAARC to meet. You know I said we cannot continue with acts of terrorism and say the cooperation will continue to happen nevertheless,” he said. Significantly, both Indian ministers–Jaishankar and Rajnath–succeeded in driving their message home that Pakistan continues to allow its territory to be used by terror organisations and it continues to be a safe haven for terrorists, which is what the India-US joint statement pointed out.
