NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called Pakistan a “bad neighbour” and said that India has the right to defend its people against terrorism.
Speaking to students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, the minister said that “nobody can tell us what we should or should not do”, in an apparent reference to Operation Sindoor.
India last year exercised its right to defend its people against terrorism through Operation Sindoor and targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April, which was perpetrated by The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“You can also have bad neighbours. Unfortunately, we do. When you have bad neighbours, if you look to the one to the west, 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,” Jaishankar said.
“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 added.
The minister also spoke about the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 with Pakistan, which was suspended after the deadly Pahalgam attack.
UNWAVERING SUPPORT TO BHARAT FROM PAK SOIL
Yar Baloch, a leading Baloch leader and a human rights activist, has raised alarm over a deepening Beijing-Islamabad alliance, claiming China could deploy its military troops in Pakistan’s Balochistan region within the next few months. In an open letter to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, he noted that Balochistan has faced decades of repression under Pakistan’s control, including what he described as state-sponsored violence and human rights abuses.
Baloch nationalist leaders have declared independence from Pakistan in May 2025. Mir Baloch has now announced that the Republic of Balochistan will celebrate the “2026 Balochistan Global Diplomatic Week” in the first week of 2026, enabling Balochistan to engage directly with countries around the world.
Op Sindoor Praise
In a New Year message addressed to Jaishankar, the Baloch leader commended what he described as the bold and resolute actions taken by the Indian Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in 2025 through Operation Sindoor, which dismantled Pakistan-backed terrorism hubs following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack last year.
Mir Baloch described these measures as a demonstration of India’s exemplary courage and a steadfast commitment to regional security and justice.
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