'World must display zero tolerance towards terrorism': Jaishankar in US

'World must display zero tolerance towards terrorism': Jaishankar in US

External affairs minister S Jaishankar, ahead of the Quad foreign ministerial meeting in Washington DC, said that the world must display zero tolerance toward terrorism.

EAM S Jaishankar said that everyone is committed to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (PTI)

Jaishankar's remarks in the US come against the backdrop of India's recently concluded global outreach programme on Operation Sindoor, a military action launched against the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The union minister further said that victims and perpetrators of terrorism "must never be equated".

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar had noted that terrorists cannot be allowed to function with impunity. "The idea that they are on that side of the border, and that, therefore, sort of prevents retribution, I think, that’s a proposition that needs to be challenged and that is what we did,” he said while referring to India's Operation Sindoor and counter-terrorism efforts.

The external affairs minister once again, in Washington, affirmed that India has every right to defend its people against terrorism, saying that the nation will exercise that right.

During his conversation with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad in New York earlier, Jaishankar asserted that India will "no longer fall for nuclear blackmail" when it comes to fighting the rise of cross-border terrorism sponsored by terrorism.

"Now we are not going to fall for that. If he is going to come and do things, we are going to go there and also hit the people who did this. So no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies. And we will do what we have to do to defend our people,” Jaishankar said.

India set a "new normal" way for responding to terrorism from Pakistan by raising the cost for all cross-border terrorism acts with Operation Sindoor.

The Indian armed forces had launched precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure belonging to outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen, early on May 7.

'Operation Sindoor' was launched in response to the deadly terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam's Baisaran on April 22, leaving 26 people, mostly civilians, dead.

In an attempt to launch a retaliatory attack, Pakistan attacked Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10, triggering an even stronger response from the Indian side.

India targeted Pakistani military facilities ranging from air defense systems to radar sites and command and control centres.

After four days of intense cross-border fighting, Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations reached out to his Indian counterpart over the hotline for a ceasefire. Following discussion and deliberations, a ceasefire was reached between the two countries on May 10.

Since then, Indian leaders have been reiterating that Operation Sindoor is the new norm for the country's response to terrorism, warning of the strictest possible actions against acts of terror.