World Doesn't Hyphenate New Delhi & Islamabad

It was an honour and privilege to be part of the multi-party delegation that toured Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

- Mohan Kumar

It was an honour and privilege to be part of the multi-party delegation that toured Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. While it is not appropriate for me to share all the details of the interaction that we had, I can confirm a couple of things. One, every interlocutor we met understood and endorsed (implicitly, if not explicitly) our military response on May 7 to the horrific terrorist attacks in Pahalgam on April 22. India's right to defend itself following the terrorist attacks was thus accepted. Two, there was no, repeat, no hint whatsoever of any attempt to hyphenate India and Pakistan.

As one important interlocutor in ASEAN put it: "India is India. Pakistan is Pakistan. We do not equate the two." Last, but by no means least, there was no traction for internationalising the so-called Kashmir issue. Yes, people wanted peace and wished for the ceasefire to last, but no one was seeking to internationalise the issue of Kashmir. It was largely accepted that this is something best sorted out by the two countries themselves. The issue of mediation by US President Donald Trump did come up, but more as a matter of curiosity than as a serious issue deserving scrutiny.

Having got that off my chest, let me say what struck me the most. It was quite simply the fact that India presented a united front and spoke in one voice. This was noticed and appreciated by all and sundry. It also contributed to both the content and the effectiveness of the message that we were trying to convey, i.e., zero tolerance for terrorism.