External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reiterated India's long-standing position of dealing with issues regarding Pakistan by declaring on Thursday that all matters with Islamabad would be addressed strictly in bilateral discussions.
"Bilateral and strictly so are going to be our dealings and relations with Pakistan. That is the national consensus over several years and there is absolutely no change in that," Jaishankar said to journalists following the opening of the Embassy of Honduras in New Delhi.
Over the past few days, US President Donald Trump has made repeated mentions of the India-Pakistan clash, positioning himself as the world peacemaker who wishes to solve conflicts like these.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reaffirmed that all issues touching on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir should be handled bilaterally by India and Pakistan.
"These are facts for which there has been no evidence or acknowledgment even after several times," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly media briefing.
Jaishankar further noted the successes of Operation Sindoor, adding that India successfully destroyed crucial terror infrastructure.
The Prime Minister has been very clear: all discussions with Pakistan will be terrorism-centric. Pakistan has a roster of terrorists to be surrendered and needs to close down terror groups. They are aware of what needs to be done. We are willing to discuss these issues related to terrorism. Those are the only talks that are possible," the EAM stressed.
After the successful completion of Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar highlighted the strong international backing India received following the brutal Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which killed 26 innocent people.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an international terrorist outfit associated with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), took responsibility for the attack.
"Let me make a few points. First, we had universal international support—numerous world leaders and ministers contacted the Prime Minister and me. The UN Security Council voted in a resolution quite firmly calling for those responsible to be held accountable. On May 7, we acted decisively through Operation Sindoor to make the perpetrators accountable," said Jaishankar.
He also explained India's stand on the cessation of hostilities and the military actions that were initiated.
We accomplished the main goals by dismantling terrorist infrastructure. Right from the start of the operation, we conveyed to Pakistan that our attacks were against terrorist facilities—not the military—and the military could decide to remain on the sidelines. They disregarded this counsel and incurred heavy losses on May 10. Satellite photos clearly indicate the degree of destruction we caused compared to their very little damage they caused us," he continued.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing in Srinagar, said that India has respect for the current ceasefire agreement only as much as no terrorist strikes take place.
He also demanded Pakistan's nuclear installations to be put under international oversight.
Speaking to troops at the Badami Bagh Cantonment, the headquarters of India's 15 Corps in Srinagar, Singh stated, "Operation Sindoor is certainly the biggest anti-terrorist operation ever carried out by India. We hit at the very heart and caused a heavy blow after they tried to strike against us."
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