'Bad neighbour' cannot expect benefits extended to 'good neighbours': EAM S Jaishankar to Pakistan

Chennai: Even as it extended a hand of friendship to Bangladesh by hoping that the “sense of neighbourliness” will grow once things settle down post-election, India on Friday sent out yet another stern message to Pakistan that it will continue to exercise the right to defend its people if the country “deliberately, persistently, and unrepentantly” continues with terrorism.

Dubbing Pakistan as a “bad neighbour” without naming the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the country cannot expect India to share water if it continues to harbour terrorists. He also told Islamabad not to expect benefits of “good neighbourliness” that are extended to others.

In a fireside chat at IIT Madras, Jaishankar also said India was among the very few ancient civilisations in the world that have survived, adapted and evolved into a major modern nation-state, giving the country a deep historical continuity that most nations do not possess.

One of the students asked Jaishankar on how India was going to recalibrate its neighbourhood first policy while maintaining the status of non-interference and protecting its interests in the wake of volatile domestic politics in Bangladesh.

Choosing to answer the question not merely on Bangladesh but from the angle of the entire neighbourhood, Jaishankar said India has both good and bad neighbours and most of them recognise that they will have more opportunities to grow since India's growth is a “lifting tide” for the region.

“In a sense, this is the message which I took to Bangladesh as well. I mean they are right now heading for their elections. We wish them well in that election. We hope that once things settle down, the sense of neighbourliness in this region will grow,” Jaishankar said.

He also spoke about how India went the extra mile in helping countries that displayed a “sense of good neighbourliness” like Sri Lanka when it faced an unprecedented economic crisis and during the Ukraine war when countries were hit by fuel and fertilizer shortage. Jaishankar also listed how India extended help to its neighbours by shipping vaccines during the Covid pandemic.

Referring to Pakistan as a country to India’s west, the minister suggested that Islamabad won’t get the “benefit of good neighbours” unless it stops patronizing terrorism.

“If a country decides that they will deliberately, persistently, (and) unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people against terrorism. We will exercise that right. How we exercise that right is up to us. Nobody can tell us what we should do or not. We will do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves,” Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister said no goodwill gesture extended to Pakistan by India in the past has been reciprocated in the right manner and cited the example of water sharing arrangement between the two countries.

“The belief was it was a gesture of goodwill and we are doing it for neighbourliness. But if you had decades of terrorism, and there is no good neighbourliness, you don't get the benefits of that good neighbourliness. You can't say I will, you know, please share water with me, but I will continue terrorism with you. That's not reconcilable,” Jaishankar added.