India draws red line with bad neighbours

Can't request us to share our water with you and also spread terror in our country: Jaishankar's stern message

- FPJ News Service

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday sent an unambiguous message on India’s neighbourhood policy: cooperation is conditional, and countries that persist with terrorism cannot expect the benefits of good neighbourliness. Speaking at an interaction with students at IIT-Madras, Jaishankar said India has every right to defend its people and will not compromise on security when dealing with what he described as “bad neighbours”.

Without naming Pakistan, the minister drew a sharp red line between neighbours who choose cooperation and those who continue cross-border terrorism. “You cannot request us to share our water with you and also spread terrorism in our country,” Jaishankar said, underlining that decades of violence make normal relations impossible.

If there is no good neighbourliness, he added, there can be no expectation of its rewards. How India exercises its right to defend itself, he stressed, is India's decision alone.