Zero-tolerance for terrorism, India will never give in to nuclear blackmail: Jaishankar in Germany

Berlin, May 23 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here on Friday said India has zero-tolerance for terrorism and New Delhi will “never give in to nuclear blackmail,” referring to the cross-border links to the Pahalgam massacre.

In his remarks at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul after holding talks with him, the external affairs minister also said, “India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally” and there should be “no confusion in any quarter” in that regard.

The Union minister is currently in Germany as part of his three-nation Europe visit.

“I came to Berlin in the immediate aftermath of India responding to the Pahalgam terror attack. Let me share with you what I conveyed to Mr Wadephul in that context. India has zero-tolerance for terrorism. India will never give in to nuclear blackmail,” he said.

“And, India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally. There should be no confusion in any quarter in that regard,” Jaishankar said.

Wadephul delivered his remarks in German.

Following the talks with the External Affairs Minister, the German foreign minister publicly condemned the terrorist attack on India, and supported India's right to defend itself against terrorism, sources said.

Wadephul also advocated a bilateral solution between India and Pakistan, they said.

Jaishankar, in his remarks at the press conference, also said India values “Germany's understanding” that “every nation has a right to defend itself against terrorism”.

After the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, India decimated nine terror camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor with precision strikes early on May 7. Soon after, Pakistan attempted to attack the Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.

The two sides reached an understanding on cessation of hostilities on May 10 after four days of confrontations.

India has launched a diplomatic outreach as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a “new normal”, when New Delhi will consider any act of cross border terrorism as an act of war against India.

The two foreign ministers also emphasised on 25 years of the Strategic Partnership between India and Germany.

Wadephul said the relations are more diverse and Germany wants to “deepen our ties” while Jaishankar said that in recent years, “our cooperation acquired many more facets, gained much stronger momentum”.

The external affairs minister also recalled his meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday, saying he noted his strong commitment to elevating and expanding the strategic partnership.

The two foreign ministers discussed a broad range of bilateral matters during their talks.

“Our talks addressed different dimensions of our bilateral cooperation, they ranged from trade to technology and investment, to defence, security, energy, sustainability, mobility of talent and societal exchanges,” Jaishankar said.

Apart from that they exchanged views on a “wide range of issues, from our immediate neighbourhood to global concerns and challenges, and I want to underline here that Germany for us is a really important partner”, he said, adding, “we cooperate in forums like the G4.. to the G20”.

Jaishankar said it is known that the world order is under “considerable churn, the political uncertainty is as evident as economic volatility”, and there are challenges posed by technologies, especially AI.

“Germany for India is our largest economic partner in the European Union, in recent years, our cooperation has acquired many more facets and gained much stronger momentum,” he said.

The EAM said, India deeply values Germany's crucial and invaluable role in “shaping our larger relationship” with the EU.

Observing that Germany has been one of the most consistent and powerful supporters of “rapidly doing a free trade agreement,” Jaishankar said, he is confident that if the two countries can meet the goal of FTA this year, there will be many more doors that will be opened to businesses on both sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in February had issued directions to conclude the ambitious free trade agreement by the end of this year as the two leaders vowed to expand the India-EU strategic partnership in areas of defence, security and critical technology.

German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann in New Delhi on April 2 had said that “time is high, time is good” to develop the EU-India free trade agreement. PTI KND NPK NPK

Source: PTI