India Has Right to Defend Itself Against Neighbours Supporting Terrorism: Jaishankar

The already tense India-Pakistan relationship worsened after Pakistan-backed terrorists killed several tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April 2025. Following the massacre, New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty as part of a wider set of punitive steps against Islamabad, signalling a harder line on cross-border terrorism and longstanding bilateral arrangements.

Speaking against this backdrop at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar criticised Pakistan as a "bad neighbour" that repeatedly supports terrorism. Jaishankar stressed that India would continue to protect national security and interests without accepting outside advice on how to address terrorist violence directed from across the border.

India Pakistan terrorism and firm stance on self-defence

Jaishankar made it clear that New Delhi alone would define its counter-terror response, stressing India’s autonomy. "How we exercise that right is up to us. Nobody can tell us what we should or should not do. We will do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves," he said, underscoring that security decisions remain a sovereign matter.

Explaining the challenge from the western frontier, Jaishankar said many nations manage uneasy neighbourhoods, but India’s case is different because terrorism is used as deliberate state policy. "If a country decides that it will deliberately, persistently and unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people against terrorism. We will exercise that right," he said, calling the threat sustained.

India Pakistan terrorism and water-sharing agreements

The minister linked cross-border terrorism with wider bilateral commitments, including river water cooperation. Jaishankar reminded the audience that India entered water-sharing agreements decades earlier, assuming basic good faith. "Many years ago, we agreed to a water-sharing arrangement, but if you have decades of terrorism, there is no good neighbourliness. If there is no good neighbourliness, you don't get the benefits of that good neighbourliness," he said.

Jaishankar argued that expectations of water-sharing could not sit alongside terrorism sponsorship. "But when it comes to bad neighbours who persist with terrorism, India has every right to defend its people and will do whatever is necessary. You cannot request us to share our water with you and also spread terrorism in our country," he said. "You can't say, 'Please share water with me, but I will continue terrorism with you.' That's not reconcilable," he added.

Reiterating India’s position, Jaishankar said New Delhi would keep exercising its right to shield citizens from attacks linked to Pakistan-based groups. He described terrorism and bilateral obligations, including the Indus Waters Treaty, as closely connected, and indicated that persistent cross-border violence had already invited strong measures, reflected in India’s recent actions after the Pahalgam killings.