EAM Spells Out Terms for Talks With Pak, US

On trade between India & US, Jaishankar said that any deal must be mutually beneficial

- NIKHIL VYAS

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Thursday made it clear that all issues between India and Pakistan will be resolved bilaterally, virtually rejecting US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate between the two countries on the Kashmir issue.

Talking to mediapersons after the inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras here, Jaishankar said, "Our relations and dealings with Pakistan will be strictly bilateral. That is a national consensus for years, and there is absolutely no change in that. The prime minister (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) made it very clear that talks with Pakistan will be only on terror."

He said Pakistan has a list of terrorists that needs to be handed over, and they have to shut down the terrorists' infrastructure.

"They (Pakistan) know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them (Pakistan) what is to be done about terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible," Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister further asserted that there is no change in its position to keep the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.