Its like giving a free pass to terror: Jaishankar hits back at Austrian journalist on Pakistan

New Delhi, Jan 03: Taking on an Austrian journalist, India's External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar after he was questioned about his remarks on Pakistan.

During the interview with Austrian public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk, Jaishankar was asked about the use of un-diplomatic language for Pakistan. Before you said, you are a diplomat, but several weeks ago, you called Pakistan the epicentre of terrorism. This does not sound very diplomatic, does it, the interviewer said.

Jaishankar began by saying, 'I did it again today,' without using the word Pakistan. Because you are a diplomatic does not mean you are untruthful. I could use much harsher words than epicentre. Considering what has been happening to us, I think epicentre is a very diplomatic word, the Foreign Minister pointed out.

Dr. Jaishankar also went on to point out Pakistan had engineered the Indian Parliament attack of 2002. He also spoke about the Mumbai 26/11attack of 2008, while also pointing out that numerous instances of infiltrations are being made from Pakistan.

The interviewer suggested to the minister that these are terrorists and not governmental entities. If terrorist camps operate in broad daylight in cities with recruitment and financing, then can you really tell me that the Pakistani state does not know what is going on, Jaishankar asked.

So when you speak of judgments and principles, why do I not hear sharp European condemnation of these practices which have been going on for decades now, the foreign minister said.

The world has to be concerned that there is terrorism going on and the world often looks away. The world often feels it is not my problem because it is happening to some other country, the minister said when asked if there would be a war.

When the Austrian journalist remained adamant about the potential of an India-Pakistan war, Jaishankar said, 'I think the world needs to be concerned about how sincerely and strongly it takes up the challenge of terrorism.

"If you pose it the way you do, that's like giving a free pass to terrorism. It's like - Let us worry about the next consequence of it. I am worried about terrorism," Jaishankar shot back.