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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reached Washington, DC, on Monday (local time) on a visit to the United States on an invitation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The visit comes ahead of the next edition of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (QFMM) scheduled on Tuesday. As per an official press statement of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Quad Foreign Ministers will proceed on the basis of the discussions that took place during the previous QFMM, which was also convened in Washington, DC, on January 21. At the meeting to be held, the leaders are likely to share their perspectives regarding major developments in the region and world, with a particular emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region. They will further discuss the progress on different Quad initiatives before the next Quad Leaders' Summit to be hosted by India.

Jaishankar Inaugurates 'The Human Cost of Terrorism' Exhibition at UN Headquarters

Before he visited Washington, DC, Jaishankar was in New York, where he opened an exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters named 'The Human Cost of Terrorism'. Organised by India's Permanent Mission to the UN, the exhibition seeks to bring out the devastating effects of terrorism as well as the imperative need to lay bare state support of terrorist activities. Addressing the inauguration, Jaishankar stated, "Terrorism anywhere constitutes a threat to peace everywhere. This exhibition is not just a display of pictures, films, and accounts. It is a declaration of our common humanity. It is an exhibit of human bravery every second, every recollection, every object, and every word speaks of a life disrupted, changed, or lost." Paying homage to the terror victims, the Minister stated, "A tribute to those who were lost to us and remembrance for lives broken. By our assembly, we show solidarity with families and loved ones of the victims of terror. The campaign is a bitter reminder of the imperative of our collective responsibility to fight terror in all its manifestations."

 

EAM Condemns Terrorism As Tool Of State Policy

Speaking at a meeting with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad at the news outlet's office at One World Trade Centre close to the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, Jaishankar emphasized that terrorism is still one of the most serious threats to global peace and security. Speaking about the recent terror strike in Pahalgam, he added that the strike was a clear case of "economic warfare" intended to wipe out tourism in Kashmir, the backbone of its economy, and also instigate communal riots by making victims declare their religion before being murdered. He added, “We decided that we cannot let terrorists function with impunity. The idea that they are on that side of the border, and that, therefore, sort of prevents retribution, is a proposition that needs to be challenged and that is what we did.” Jaishankar noted that terrorist groups based in Pakistan don't operate in seclusion but have the "equivalent of their corporate headquarters" in inhabited towns. He referred to Operation Sindoor, which India unleashed to strike terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK for attacking India in the form of the Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians and was attributed to The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

India Not To Succumb To Nuclear Blackmail

The External Affairs Minister reaffirmed India's strong position that India will not let nuclear blackmail stop it from acting against terrorism. “We are very clear there will be no impunity for terrorists, that we will not deal with them any longer as proxies and spare the government which supports, finances, and, in many ways, motivates them. We will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent us from responding,” he declared. He also stated that the fact that India should not retaliate against attacks, since both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers, will not hold India back anymore. "If he is going to come and do things, we are going to go there and also hit the people who did this. So no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies. And we will do what we have to do to defend our people,” Jaishankar asserted.

Terrorism Threatens All, Says Jaishankar

Reciting India's historic stand, Jaishankar stated that terrorism is a threat worldwide and no nation should ever resort to it as a tool to serve its policy interests. “At the end of the day, it comes back to bite everyone,” he cautioned. He insisted that there has to be zero tolerance towards terrorism and there should be no situation or reason for which any nation should permit, aid, finance, or sponsor terrorism. Speaking of India's long battle against terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Jaishankar mentioned that the issue started at the time of the country's independence in 1947, when terrorists were infiltrated into Kashmir in the guise of tribal invaders and later by the Pakistani Army. He also remembered significant terror attacks like the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

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India's Firm Stance On Terrorism

He further revealed that during the heightened tensions in May, India stood firm in the face of Pakistani threats. “I was in the room when Vice President (JD) Vance spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things. The Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do. On the contrary, he indicated that there would be a response from us,” he said.

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Jaishankar concluded by stating, "The next morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called me up and said the Pakistanis were ready to talk. So I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened. The rest I leave to you." The Washington, DC-based Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting is likely to enhance coordination between India, the US, Japan and Australia to work towards peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region against intensifying geopolitical challenges.