‘Pakistan Stuck In Bad Habits’: Jaishankar Calls 26/11 Mumbai Attacks Turning Point In Indo-Pak Ties
S Jaishankar stressed that India has evolved under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership over the last decade, while Pakistan remains stuck in its “bad habits.”
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the 2008 Mumbai terror attack was a turning point that changed how India viewed its relationship with Pakistan as at the time Indians collectively decided such provocations could no longer be tolerated.
Speaking at Charotar University of Science and Technology in Gujarat, S Jaishankar stressed that India has evolved under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership over the last decade, while Pakistan remains stuck in its “bad habits."
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S Jaishankar said, “India has changed. I wish I could say Pakistan has changed. They unfortunately, in many ways, are continuing their bad habits. They are continuing a very negative way of approaching India. When I look back, I would say the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack was the turning point. I think that was when the Indian public, across political parties, said this is too much. People felt that the country (India) cannot accept this behaviour from a neighbour."
When asked on how can India leverage groupings like BIMSTEC and BRICS, S Jaishankar said, “A big country like India… We will have many interests, many partners, friends. Now, the world is a very competitive place. What will happen is people (will) drive to restrict our choices, restrict our options. It is natural. That is the way the world is. What we are trying to do today is to ensure that our partners, our options, our choices are as broad as possible."
He added, “You mentioned, BIMSTEC, you also mentioned BRICS. I can give you very different partners. There is a group called Quad with America, Australia and Japan. There is a gathering called Voice of Global South which has almost 120 countries of the developing world. There are Indian Ocean grouping, there is Colombo security conclave… What we are trying to do is to see how do we have the maximum number of platforms, maximum opportunities, maximum friends."
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