PM Modi’s May 10 Address To Nation Had Clear Messages For Terrorists: EAM Jaishankar On India’s Zero-Tolerance Policy on Terrorism

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on May 10 had clear messages for terrorists and now it was really for the terrorists groupings and for their sponsors to absorb and reflect on those messages, said External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar as he addressed the press in United States.

Speaking on Operation Sindoor, launched by India to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack, S Jaishankar said that what India has communicated very clearly is that we mean it when we say there is zero tolerance for terrorism.

"...What we have communicated very clearly is we mean it when we say there is zero tolerance for terrorism...If you look back at the Prime Minister's address to the nation after the cessation of firing on the 10th of May, there were some very clear messages which came out of that...It's really for the terrorist groupings and for their sponsors to absorb and reflect on those messages. I don't think we are going to spell out if this happens, we will do that. I mean, no government does that…” S Jaishankar said.

India will respond if there are terror attacks, says Jaishankar 

Speaking further on the issue of terrorism, Jaishankar reaffirmed India's message that if there are terror attacks, India is going to respond and act against perpetrators.

“...With each of my counterparts, I have shared with them the sense that the nature of the terrorists challenge, the fact that we have confronted it over multiple decades and that we are very resolved today to respond to it very firmly and we have the right to defend ourselves...The perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable, they must be brought to justice and that's important because we have to communicate to the world that what we did on 7th May, the objective of Operation Sindoor is that if there are terrorist attacks, we will act against the perpetrators, the supporters, the enablers. That message was conveyed with great clarity.”

Jaishankar on India-Pakistan ceasefire in Washington 

When asked on India-Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor as Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that it was him who mediated cessation of firing between the two nations, EAM Jaishankar made the record straight that the ceasefire was negotiated between the DGMOs.

"The record of what happened at that time was very clear and the ceasefire was something which was negotiated between the DGMOs of the two countries...," said S Jaishankar.

Jaishankar on all-party delegation after Operation Sindoor  

Speaking on all-party delegations that travelled to different nations and put forth India's stand on terrorism after Operation Sindoor, S Jaishankar said, “I have spoken about the all-party delegations in India... We very much value and appreciate what they did... It serves our national interest.”

"When you have a broadband set of people who speak with one voice abroad, it conveys a strong message of national unity. It underlines a certain seriousness about responding to terrorism... You saw the political pluralism of India come together on an important issue and send a strong unified message and I think that was something really great and it's something which quite apart from being a minister, honestly, as a person, as an Indian citizen, I applaud that."