S Jaishankar: Pakistan has been building industry out of terror

New Delhi Pakistan has been building an industry out of terrorism and holding their feet to the fire on this issue is very important External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday noting that India has allowed the narrative to focus mainly on a dialogue when the real issue was stopping crossborder terrorism Jaishankar who delivered the Ramnath Goenka memorial lecture here and later took part in a questionanswer session spoke on a wide range of issues including China Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership RCEP abrogation of Article 370 and National Register of CitizensHe said the industry of terror has been built to put pressure on India and there is no point living in denialWho doesnt want a good relationship but at the end of the daythe reality is that this neighbour has built an industry of terror to put pressure on us Theres no point living in denial because when you live in denial they will only increase it I think holding their feet to the fire on this issue is very important because without that youre not going to get change That fact is that we had allowed the narrative to focus mainly on a dialogue when the real issue was stopping crossborder terrorism he saidThe minister said that in the last five years however a different normal has developed and global conversations on crossborder terrorism have become more serious Just look at the FATF Financial Action Task Force as a proof of that assertion Jaishankar said In his speech he said the Simla agreement of 1972 resulted in a revanchist Pakistan continuing problems in Jammu and Kashmir Jaishankar said lack of response after Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 was so different from response after the Uri and Balakot operations and noted that various events bear scrutiny for the lessons they holdJaishankar said Indias record includes dark moments like the 1962 defeat against China or tense ones like the 1965 war with Pakistan There are enough dichotomies in our past to generate a spirited debate on successes and failuresTwo decades of nuclear indecision ended dramatically with the tests of 1998 The lack of response to 2611 is so different from the Uri and Balakot operations Whether it is events or trends they all bear scrutiny for the lessons they hold he saidOn being asked whether narrative about India is changing after the abrogation of Article 370 and NRC implementation in Assam Jaishankar said It is a matter of ideological debate and liberal fundamentalism at work My reputation is not decided by a newspaper in New York he remarked over criticism of the Indian governments move made by foreign mediaOn being asked about the economic slowdown in India Jaishankar said We shouldnt be so fainthearted The twoquarter slowdown doesnt mean the world is coming to an end We have been through that before Jaishankar asserted that nationalism has led to greater internationalismPutting India First may be another way of capturing a strong and pragmatic policy outlook This suffers from a comparison with other nations who have chosen to be more selfcentred In Indias case nationalism has in fact led to greater internationalism he saidNoting that many border issues remain unsettled in the last seven decades Jaishankar said A dispassionate assessment of our performance would note that while we ourselves have done well in many respects some competitors have done much betterDefence preparedness was improved and one of the key accomplishments of diplomacy was to enable access to multiple sources of equipment and technologyHowever the fact remains that even after seven decades of independence many of our borders remain unsettled In the economic sphere we may look good when benchmarked against our own past It seems a little different when compared to China or South East Asia he saidSpeaking about Indias decision not to join the RCEP the minister said that no agreement is better than a bad agreementOn the one hand we should not go back to the old dogmas of economic autarky and import substitution But at the same time embracing the new dogma of globalisation without a costbenefit analysis is equally dangerousNo agreement at this time was better than a bad agreement It is also important to recognize what the RCEP decision is not It is not about stepping back from the Act East policy he saidJaishankar also explained the evolution of Indias foreign policy and categorised it into six broad phases each a response to a different global strategic environment He said the first phase from 19461962 could be characterised as an era of optimistic nonalignment that from 19621970 as realism and discovery from 19711991 as regional assertion 1991 1999 as a quest for strategic autonomy 20002013 as balancing power and the last phase and 2014 to current as a phase of energetic diplomacyCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party 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