 "Jaishankar")
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday dismissed China's repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as "ludicrous" and asserted that the frontier state was a "natural part of India".
In probably his first public comments on China's frequent claims on Arunachal Pradesh and its opposition to Indian leaders visiting the state, Jaishankar said it was not a new issue.
"This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today," he said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the prestigious NUS Institute of South Asian Studies here.
He emphasised that Arunachal Pradesh was a "natural part of India." "So, I think we've been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place," he said.
Jaishankar's comments came days after the Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the Chinese defence ministry's assertions.
Also Read
"We have noted the comments made by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh.
"Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects," the MEA said in a statement.
Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
"We reject the comments made by the Chinese side regarding the visit of the Prime Minister to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India," the MEA said in a separate response last week.
Objecting to such visits or India's developmental projects does not stand to reason. Further, it will not change the reality that the State of Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. The Chinese side has been made aware of this consistent position on several occasions, the statement said.
Pakistan sponsoring terrorism at 'industry level', India 'will not skirt' this problem anymore
Underlining that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism at almost an "industry level", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday asserted that the mood in India now is not to overlook terrorists and it "will not skirt this problem anymore".
Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Singapore, made these remarks during a Q&A round held post his lecture session on his authored book 'Why Bharat Matters' at Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of National University of Singapore (NUS).
"Every country wants a stable neighbourhood...if nothing else you want at least a quiet neighbourhood," he said in response to a question on India's ties with Pakistan.
However, unfortunately, it is not the same with India, he said.
Underlining that Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism against India, Jaishankar asked, "How do you deal with a neighbour who does not hide the fact that they use terrorism as an instrument of statecraft?"
"It's not a one-off happening...but very sustained, almost at an industry level...So what we have come to conclude is that we have to find a way of addressing (the menace), that dodging the problem gets us nowhere, it only invites more trouble," he said.
"I don't have a quick instantaneous fix (to this issue). But what I can tell you is that India will not skirt this problem anymore. We are not going to say, 'well, that happened and let's continue our dialogue'...we have a problem and we must be honest enough to face up to that problem, however difficult it is...we should not give the other country a free pass, saying there's nothing they can do about it or it's a very hard problem, or there's so much else at stake that let us overlook," he asserted.
In India now, Jaishankar said, "the mood is not to overlook terrorists".
Jaishankar reiterates two-state solution for Israel-Palestine issue
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday reiterated the two-state solution to resolve the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict and said there are "very serious efforts" underway to bring about a permanent solution to the issue.
However, the Minister declined to elaborate on what those efforts are as he said, he cannot speak about it publically, but said, We (India) are very, very supportive of the efforts of a few countries who are working right now to find a way out of the present situation.
Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Singapore, was speaking at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
He was answering questions after a lecture on his book Why Bharat Matters' when he was asked about his reading of the situation in Israel and Palestine and because India is friendly on both sides, how it visualises the situation in next couple of years and what could be a possible long term solution.
To start with, Jaishankar said, India is very clear that what happened on October 7 (last year) was terrorism.
There cannot be any defence of it. There cannot be any caveats to it. I think we need to call that out, which we did, very unambiguously, he said.
It was on October 7, 2023, that Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israel through land, sea and air routes killing at least 1,200 Israelis and taking hostage another 230. Media reports suggested 30 of them are still held hostage.
The unprecedented attack prompted Israel to launch an all-out attack on Gaza Strip that has killed, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, nearly 32,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.
Commenting on how Israel is responding, Jaishankar said, India has taken a view that (in case of) any response, the care has to be taken about civilian casualties; international humanitarian law needs to be observed.
There has been mounting international pressure on Israel for a ceasefire, especially because of the holy Ramazan month, but it has declared to take it to the end.
We are in a situation today where clearly, the need is to find a way of delivering humanitarian aid to a civilian population on a sustainable basis. But beyond that, I think there is a larger, longer-term issue really, the minister said.
What do you do on a more permanent basis? he said, and immediately answered himself: And we are very clear that we have to find a two-state solution.
He also described how India manages relationships with both Israel and Palestine.
