External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar scorned a journalist from Pakistan on Thursday who asked him how long South Asia will see terrorism from New Delhi, Kabul, Pakistan. The minister gave a witty response to the journalist and said, “You are asking the wrong minister. It is the minister of Pakistan who will tell you how long Pakistan intends to practice terrorism.”
READ | S Jaishankar unveils Mahatma Gandhi statue at UN headquarters
In his reply to the Pakistani journalist, Jaishankar said, “The world is not stupid, the world is not forgetful and the world does increasingly call out countries and organisations which indulge in terrorism”. He added, “My advice is, please clean up your act. Please try to be a good neighbour. Please try and contribute to what the rest of the world is trying to do today, which is economic growth, progress, development.”
Jaishankar presided over the ‘UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward’ and said the threat of terrorism has become more serious. “We have seen the expansion of Al-Qaida, Da’esh, Boko Haram and Al Shabab and their affiliates,” he said in his address to the 15-nation Council.
READ | A Pakistan angle in India abstaining from a UN Vote
He highlighted seven key points in his UNSC address and said, “The contemporary epicenter of terrorism remains very much active.” He added that “old habits and established networks” are still alive, especially in South Asia.
Speaking in his national capacity, the EAM said that “at the other end of the spectrum are ‘lone wolf’ attacks inspired by online radicalisation and biases. But somewhere in all of this, we cannot forget that old habits and established networks are still alive, especially in South Asia. The contemporary epicentre of terrorism remains very much active, whatever gloss may be applied to minimise unpleasant realities.”
READ | US designates 4 militants in Afghanistan, Pakistan in list of global terrorists
The EAM’s remark was taken as a veiled attack on Pakistan, which is accused by its neighbours of harbouring terrorists and providing safe havens to several terrorist groups like al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban.
