India-Pakistan ties collapsed after Pathankot terror attack (Representation)
New York:
Terrorism remains publicly recognized by the Pakistani government as a policy it justifies, making it very difficult to conduct normal relations with it, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.
Speaking at an online event hosted by the Asia Society, Mr Jaishankar said: “Regarding your … question, how are we doing with Pakistan. Well, I’m afraid that we are still at, if not the eternal, at the least enduring issues, which is Pakistan’s terrorism continues. “
“Terrorism from Pakistan remains publicly recognized by their government as a policy that they justify. It is therefore very difficult to conduct normal relations with them,” Jaishankar said.
He added that it was not just about terrorism, but that Pakistan was not doing normal trade with India and had not granted New Delhi MFN (most favored nation) status.
“We don’t have a normal visa relationship, they are very restrictive on this point. They have blocked connectivity between India and Afghanistan and from Afghanistan to India,” he said. .
Mr Jaishankar said normal neighbors do visas and trade, “they give you connectivity and most importantly they don’t practice terrorism. And I think until we get to this issue, the challenge how to maintain normal relations with this unique neighbor is a matter of great concern for our foreign policy. “
Responding to a question on developments in Kashmir since the bifurcation last year, Jaishankar said the former state of Jammu and Kashmir has now become two Union Territories.
“India’s external borders have not changed. India’s external borders remain what they are today as opposed to what they were five or 20 years ago, 40 years ago. years, ”he said.
“So with regard to our neighbors, what we tell them is that this is something that is internal to us. After all, every country reserves the right to change its administrative jurisdictions. A country like China has also changed. the borders of its provinces, and I’m sure many other countries do.
“Neighbors are only affected if your outer boundaries change. That did not happen in this case, ”he said.
Ties between India and Pakistan collapsed after a terrorist attack on Pathankot Air Base in 2016 by terrorist groups based in the neighboring country. Subsequent attacks, including one against the Indian army camp in Uri, further deteriorated relations.
The relationship deteriorated further after Indian warplanes shelled a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep in Pakistan on February 26 last year in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
The withdrawal of special powers from Jammu and Kashmir and the split of the state into two Union Territories in August of last year also drew a strong reaction from Pakistan, which tried unsuccessfully to rally support. international against India on the Kashmir issue.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
