India, Pakistan exchange barbs over terrorism, J&K at SCO meet

India dismissed the possibility of the resumption of formal bilateral dialogue with Pakistan

India and Pakistan exchanged barbs over cross-border terrorism and the issue of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Benaulim in Goa on Friday.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who hosted the meeting, hit out at Pakistan for exporting terror to India, even as his counterpart from the neighbouring country, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was among the ones attending the conclave. Jaishankar was subtle at the SCO meeting in the morning but went ballistic against Bilawal while addressing media-persons in the evening. He accused the Pakistani Foreign Minister of being a “promoter, justifier and a spokesperson of a terror industry”.

Also Read | Victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism: Jaishankar

Though the meeting brought the foreign ministers of the two neighbouring nations together after a gap of several years, India dismissed the possibility of resumption of formal bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, stating that victims of terrorism never had talks with its perpetrators.

What made New Delhi toughen its stand was the killing of five Indian Army soldiers by the terrorists in J&K on Friday. The incident took place just about a fortnight after India had lost five Rashtriya Rifles soldiers in another attack in the union territory by terrorists from Pakistan. The back-to-back incidents cast a shadow over what was the first ministerial visit from Pakistan to India since December 2016.

Bilawal, who addressed a news conference before leaving Goa on Friday, accused New Delhi of causing a setback to the India-Pakistan peace process by its August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution of India in order to withdraw the special status of J&K and to reorganize the erstwhile state into two union territories. “Wake up and smell the coffee. (Article) 370 is history. The sooner people realise it, the better it is,” responded Jaishankar, adding that the only issue New Delhi would like to discuss with Islamabad about J&K was when Pakistan would vacate India’s territory it had been illegally occupying. His comment was in response to Bilawal’s comment that the onus to create a conducive atmosphere for restarting the stalled India-Pakistan dialogue was on New Delhi.

“Let's be very very clear on this. On this terrorism matter, I would say Pakistan's credibility is depleting even faster than its forex reserves,” Jaishankar said, dismissing Bilawal’s bid to claim that Pakistan was also a victim of terrorism like India and that it was also combating the menace.

Also Read | Bhutto calls for collective approach by SCO to combat terrorism

“We firmly believe that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism,” Jaishankar earlier said in his opening remarks, while chairing the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. “The channel of finances for terrorist activities must be seized and blocked without distinction,”

“We must not allow anybody – individual or State – to hide behind non-State actors,” he added in a tweet – making a thinly-veiled attack on Pakistan’s government and the military establishment for using proxies to sponsor terrorism against India.

Bilawal used his intervention to respond to Jaishankar. “Terrorism continues to threaten global security. Let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism or trying to earn diplomatic points for it,” he said.

The external affairs minister exchanged pleasantries with his counterpart from the neighbouring country during a dinner at a beach resort in south Goa on Thursday, just as he did with his guests from the other SCO nations. He also ceremonially welcomed the Pakistani Foreign Ministers along with the others before the formal start of the conclave on Friday. The two also posed for photographers after greeting each other with folded hands.

Though Jaishankar had bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Russia and the other SCO member nations, he had no such formal engagement with Bilawal.

“Victims of terrorism do not sit together with the perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism," Jaishankar said when journalists asked him about the possibility of India and Pakistan restarting dialogue and working towards combating the menace. "Victims of terrorism defend themselves to counter acts of terrorism. They call it out, they delegitimise it. And that is what is happening. To come here and preach these hypocritical words as though we are on the same boat. I mean they are committing acts of terrorism,” he said, hitting out at Bilawal.