India does not want to have to wait for the US and other countries to understand its concerns on terrorism, and what is more important is having the conviction to fight back, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
Speaking to NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal and Senior Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul at the NDTV World Summit on Thursday, the minister emphasised that the world takes note only when a country responds, and India has done that with Operation Sindoor and the Balakot strikes.
Jaishankar also said that while India wants a good relationship with Pakistan, it is not willing to overlook terrorism to achieve that.
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To a question on the Pakistani military establishment successfully managing to woo the Donald Trump administration in the US, the perception that Washington has not fully understood India's concerns on cross-border terror, and whether this would impact India-US ties, Jaishankar said the issue was actually much broader.
"It's not all about Washington understanding or not understanding. If Washington understood it so well, why didn't we act in 2008, when 26/11 happened? And when we did act, we didn't act because Washington understood it; we acted because we understood it. First of all, forget about somebody else getting terrorism right. Get it right yourself. If you don't have the clarity of thought, the conviction to fight back against terrorism, don't think somebody else is going to do that job for you," the minister asserted.
Jaishankar said there had been an evolution of policy and this was evident in India responding to cross-border terrorism with Operation Sindoor last year, the Balakot strikes in 2019, and the surgical strikes in 2016.
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"The evolution is that if terrorism goes on, it will not be business as usual. It is not you will take a break and then say, 'Okay, now it has been a long time. Let me get back to talking to them (Pakistan) again', which is what the pattern was. The 26/11 attacks should serve as a reminder of the enormity of what is being done to us and the necessity for us to respond. And, believe me, when you respond, the world will take note. When you don't respond, the world will play games," he stressed.
'World Watched, Drew Its Lessons'
Asked whether India, which has made it very clear that terror and talks will not go together, still wished to have a better relationship with Pakistan, the minister said the wish was always there, but the reality was Islamabad's use of terrorism as state policy.
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"So, should we ignore terrorism? This is why I keep going back to 26/11. The world watched what we did after the attack, and because we did nothing, the world drew its lessons. Of course we want good relations with Pakistan, we want that with all our neighbours, but will I overlook terror for that? I will not. The government is very clear," he underlined.
"The national mood on Pakistan changed after 26/11. Till then, there were people who would keep making these arguments. After 26/11, only the government of the day made the argument," he said.