India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. (File Photo)External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the communication “impediments” in Jammu and Kashmir have been undertaken to avoid violence and bloodshed, and pointed to the difficulty in keeping communications open for citizens while cutting it off for terrorists. However, he said there will be easing of restrictions in the coming days progressively.
On Pakistan, he made it clear that dialogue is possible only when the neighbouring country stops terrorism targeted at India.
In an interview to Politico Europe in Brussels, where he was visiting last week, Jaishankar said, “At the moment, what we are seeking to do is to avoid any situation likely to lead to violent situation or bloodshed. Why would you have violence and bloodshed in this state? How do you have violence in a state like this? One, for example, by activating terrorist assets that are already in place. Guess what, it has been happening for many years now. Therefore, communication impediments…”
When asked about people suffering from the communication restrictions, he said, “Yes, sure. But if you tell me how do I cut off communications between the terrorists and their masters on the one hand, but keep the internet open for other people? I would be delighted to pass on this information.”
On Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s op-ed in the New York Times, in which he says there is an invitation offering India dialogue, Jaishankar was categorical about Delhi’s position: “India wants normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan… Now here’s the problem: for many years now, and many decades now, the Pakistanis have been conducting terrorist campaigns and terrorist activities against India. Now, I ask you: how do you have normal neighbourly relations with a country that openly practises terrorism?”
He cited Khan’s earlier interviews where he spoke about terrorists in his country. “The issue is not whether you talk or not, [but] do you talk to a person who simultaneously conducts terrorism against you, or not?… we are happy to talk to any country, including Pakistan, provided Pakistan stops this terrorism…”
On scrapping special status of J&K under Article 370, Jaishankar said the provision was temporary and an obstacle to growth and development. “There was a temporary provision of the Indian Constitution… What was meant as a short-term measure extended to a point where it affected governance, where it affected development and where it created an atmosphere — you know, because of the lack of development — of separatism in some quarters, which then served as an excuse for Pakistan to practise cross-border terrorism.”
