India, Pak were very far away from nuclear conflict: EAM

India and Pakistan were "very far away" from a nuclear conflict during their recent clashes because the Indian side only struck at terrorist targets on Pakistani soil in a measured and non-escalatory manner, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

Terror is a "very open business" in Pakistan and narratives about clashes between the two countries leading to a nuclear problem "encourages terrible activities like terrorism", Jaishankar said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper during his just concluded visit to Germany.

He responded to a question about how close India and Pakistan were to a nuclear conflict by saying: "Very, very far away...We have terrorist targets. Those were very measured, considered and non-escalating steps."

Jaishankar, who visited the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany last week to brief interlocutors on India's strikes on terrorist facilities in Pakistan, added, "At no point was a nuclear level reached. There is a narrative as if everything that happens in our part of the world leads directly to a nuclear problem. That disturbs me a lot because it encourages terrible activities like terrorism."

He said that anyone "who is not blind can see" terrorist organisations are openly operating in Pakistan's cities and towns. "The UN Security Council terror list is full of Pakistani names and places, and these are the very places we have targeted... In Pakistan, terrorism is a very open business. A business that is supported, financed, organised and used by the state. And by their military."