BackS Jaishankar slams Bilawal Bhutto for comments on Kashmir, BBC documentary, says ‘good host for good guest’
S Jaishankar explained the rationale behind inviting Bilawal Bhutto to the SCO meeting
PremiumUnion Minister of External Affairs on Sunday talked about the visit of his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the foreign minister's meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and said that he is a good host for a good guest. The minister's fresh jibe at the Pakistan foreign minister came during a meeting on the foreign policy of the current Narendra Modi government in Mysore.
"But if you look at his public utterances outside the SCO meet, he has only spoken on India, -- G20, Kashmir, BBC documentary; but nothing about SCO. What do I do as a host? If I have a good guest, I am a good host. But..." Jaishankar said amid a round of applause from the audience.
The minister also explained the rationale behind inviting the Pakistan foreign minister to the SCO meeting and said that he was allowed to put across his views as the representative of Pakistan.
"We invited the Pakistani foreign minister because there was an SCO foreign ministers' meeting. When it comes to multilateral meetings, you invite people to discuss that subject. He (Bilawal Bhutto) was invited in his capacity as a representative of Pakistan to put across his views on matters pertaining to the issues pertaining to SCO. We could differ...he may have his viewpoint, I may have my own viewpoint and there's an SCO meeting room where we would discuss and differ. That's one thing," Jaishankar said.
S Jaishankar slammed Bilawal Bhutto
After the SCO meeting in Goa, S Jaishankar slammed Bilawal Bhutto and said that victims of terrorism and perpetrators of terrorism should not sit together to discuss terrorism. He even took a jibe at Pakistan's weak economy and said that the credibility of the country is depleting faster than its forex reserves.
"What do you mean we should not weaponise terrorism? That means, as a victim, I'm supposed to put up with it. So you not only commit terrorism, but you say, oh, please, do not even speak about it? Come on. So to me, that sentence, it spoke so much about a mindset of that country that you can all see for yourselves," Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar also talked about the Indian port in Iran and India has to find a way to access Central Asia by bypassing Pakistan.
"It is not in our interest to be locked in perpetual hostility with Pakistan. Nobody wants that. It's against common sense. But we have to draw the line. If a neighbor attacks me, I don't think it should be business as usual," Jaishankar said.
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