Beijing – India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday in a meeting held in China said that, India does not want further escalations with Pakistan, but she also urged all countries to show zero tolerance against terrorism and extremism.
While speaking at 16th Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministerial Meeting being held in Wuzhen, China, Swaraj said about Pulwama attack that, it is a “grim reminder for the need for all the countries to show zero tolerance to terrorism and take decisive actions against it”.
She expressed, “Pakistan denied any knowledge of the attack and outrightly dismissed claims by Jaish-e-Mohammed.”
“In the light of continuing refusal of Pakistan to acknowledge and act against terror group based on its territory and based on credible information that Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning other attacks on various parts of India, Government of India decided to take preemptive action,” she added.
Swaraj reiterated that Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday conducted “non-military preemptive strikes” against JeM’s biggest terror camp in Balakot, Pakistan.
“This was not a military operation. No military installations were targeted. The limited objective of the preemptive strike was to act decisively against the terrorist infrastructure of Jaish-e-Mohammed in order to preempt another terror attack in India,” she added.
She enthused that “India does not wish to see further escalation of the situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint.”
Swaraj will have a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to push the move to enlist Jaish’s leader Masood Azhar as UN-recognized International Terrorist.
China has asked both India and Pakistan to de-escalate the matter.
