NEW DELHI: At the just concluded Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Goa, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar came down heavily on Pakistan after the comments made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Kashmir.
"We have only one issue with Pakistan, which is when will they vacate Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Pakistan’s credibility is depleting faster than its forex reserve," said Jaishankar, responding to remarks made by Bhutto earlier on Friday.
India has ruled out any normalcy of ties with Pakistan until the issue of terrorism is resolved and Jaishankar has categorically stated that perpetrators of terrorism cannot act like victims.
Regarding Bhutto raking up the Kashmir issue, Jaishankar said that Article 370 is history.
"Wake up and smell the coffee is what I would like to tell Pakistan as Article 370 is history. I would also like to reaffirm that Kashmir was, is and will always remain an integral part of India," he said, adding that Pakistan had no business speaking about the G20 meeting in Kashmir as it was neither a member of the G20 nor does it have anything to do with Kashmir.
"We are politically and diplomatically exposing Pakistan to the world. Victims of terrorism (India) do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism. They are committing acts of terror which includes the incident of what happened in Rajouri today morning," said Jaishankar, adding that this is the character of Pakistan, old playbook in a different location – this time it was Goa.
During his opening remarks ahead of the meet, Jaishankar had stated that the menace of terrorism has continued unabated and taking our eyes off it would be detrimental to India's security interests. He also reiterated that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations – including cross-border terrorism.
"We must not allow anybody – individual or state – to hide behind non-state actors," Jaishankar said.
Meanwhile, Bhutto in an interaction that he had with media from Pakistan said that he wanted peace with India and would sit across the table and talk peace if the environment was congenial. He said he was treated fairly by India during the meet and that he shook hands with Jaishankar during dinner but was greeted with a namaste before the commencement of the meet like all other members.
"The interest in Pakistan about India and in India about Pakistan is the same. We want to give peace a chance,’’ Bhutto said after he spoke about the breakdown of diplomatic ties with India following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir.
India has so far hosted more than 100 events under the SCO Presidency. Regarding bilateral relations with China, Jaishankar said, "The situation with China is abnormal along the border areas. We had a detailed discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and decided to take the disengagement process forward."
China interestingly said that there were no issues it had with India and the relationship was normal.
Meanwhile, Iran and Belarus have been admitted as new members of the SCO. The discussions India had with Russia were about further strengthening their trade and bilateral ties. English has also been made the third official language of the SCO.
All members underlined that while connectivity is key to progress, it must come with respect for soverignity and territorial integrity of all member states.