Brutal terror attack led to conflict

The recent clashes between India and Pakistan were triggered by the "brutal terrorist attack" in Pahalgam and were not about a "conflict in Kashmir", and much of the world agreed with the actions taken by New Delhi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

Describing the recent events as a "conflict in Kashmir" would be akin to putting the perpetrator and the victim of the Pahalgam attack at the same level, Jaishankar said during an interaction at the DGAP or German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin late on Friday.

India targeted terrorists located in Pakistan, which has "for many, many years used terrorism as a kind of a tool in its attempts to pressure us", he said during an interactive session at the think tank. Jaishankar responded to a question on the "international implications of the conflict in Kashmir" by saying: "First of all, this was not a conflict in Kashmir, this was a terrorist attack.

"And a terrorist attack which is part of a pattern which has not only targeted the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, but other parts of India as well. It's very important to clarify because when you project it as a conflict, you're really putting the perpetrator and the victim, without meaning to, at the same level."