Pakistan openly practises terrorism and there is no scope for negotiations until Islamabad reins in its financing and recruitment of militant groups, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said. Jaishankar was responding to the recent opinion piece written by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Kashmir in the New York Times where he argued that it was urgent to begin discussions while a “nuclear shadow” hovers over South Asia. In an interview with POLITICO in Brussels, Jaishankar said the idea was a nonstarter while Pakistan “openly practises terrorism”. Noting that he hasn’t had time to read Khan’s Friday op-ed, the External Affairs Minister, who was in Brussels last week, said there was no hope of negotiations until Pakistan reins in its financing and recruitment of militant groups. “Terrorism is not something that is being conducted in dark corners of Pakistan. It’s done in broad daylight,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
