Action against terror takes priority over talks with Pakistan: Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: Action against terror takes priority over dialogue with Pakistan, the government said on Wednesday, making it clear that bilateral talks hinge on Islamabad’s action against plotters of the Pathankot attack.

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“In the aftermath of a terror attack, if you ask me what will you give priority to, the terror attack or a dialogue, I think the answer is obvious,” foreign secretary S Jaishankar said here on Wednesday at the Raisina Dialogue — a major foreign policy initiative launched by the MEA and Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.

Jaishankar also made it clear that terrorism is an obstacle to normalisation of relations with Pakistan and that the country in the North-West is not helping in India’s transit to Central Asia and Russia.

“If there are visible obstructions to this picture of growing connectivity, they are primarily on our north west. In the absence of transit rights, there is an impediment to trade, energy flows and economic integration,” Jaishankar said as he highlighted Iran’s role as a gateway for India to Eurasia .

“Normalisation of the situation in Iran is, therefore, particularly welcome. We are working to invest in the Chabahar port, join the Ashgabat Agreement and participate in the International North South Transport Corridor."

India has submitted Pak the evidence to prove that the six men who opened fire at the Pathankot airbase came from across the border, and demanded action against the Masood Azhar-led terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which plotted the assault. Till that happens, New Delhi has indicated it will not reschedule talks between the foreign secretaries of both countries that were derailed after the airbase was targeted.