DH NEWS SERVICE
new delhi,, june 27
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday lauded the multi-party delegations that travelled to 33 different countries as part of India’s global outreach programme following Operation Sindoor, saying he saw unity among members of the delegations who went around the world speaking in the “national interest”.
He said India gave a message to the world that terrorism is “not acceptable” and if it continues, the nation has the “right” to defend itself.
Referring to the recent diplomatic outreach in the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack, the minister said he feels a great sense of pride when he sees non-BJP leaders like Shashi Tharoor, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Jha, and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi leading Parliamentary delegations to inform the world about the country’s firm stand against terror. “I feel proud when I see a unity of delegations with all parties going out across the world and speaking in defence of our national interests, giving the message of zero-tolerance for terrorism,” Jaishankar told mediapersons here. On the feedback he received from the delegates after the diplomatic outreach, the external affairs minister said, “They said in every country the most impressive part found by the hosts was that all parties, including Opposition parties, were part of it.” The EAM also addressed the issue of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation summit. Explaining the motive of the strategic bloc, S Jaishankar highlighted that it was formed for countering terrorism.
Focusing on the Defence Ministers’ Meeting at the SCO summit, he mentioned that when the discussion related to the outcome document took place, one country didn’t want the reference of the Pahalgam attack. “The SCO was formed to fight terrorism. When Rajnath Singh went to the Defence Ministers’ Meeting and there was a discussion on the outcome document, one country said they do not want a reference to that”, Jaishankar told reporters.
Terming the views of Rajnath Singh of not signing the outcome document without the mention of terrorism “right”, the EAM said the defence minister expressed his “unwillingness” to accept the document.
Jaishankar stated that the SCO runs with unanimity, and as there was no mention of terrorism in the statement, the defence minister refused to sign the document. “Rajnath Singh’s view rightly was, without that reference, that when the main purpose of the organisation is to fight terrorism, and you are not allowing a reference to that, he expressed his unwillingness to accept… SCO runs with unanimity. So Rajnath ji clearly said that if there is no mention of terrorism in the statement, we will not sign it,” he added.
