According to Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, any engagement between India and Pakistan must be bilateral. He emphasized that discussions regarding trade, the Indus Waters treaty, or Jammu and Kashmir cannot take place while Pakistan continues to support terrorism and occupies Indian territory.
Any interaction with Pakistan must be “bilateral”; however, India will refrain from engaging with its neighbor on matters such as trade, the Indus Waters Treaty, or Jammu and Kashmir as long as Pakistan persists in supporting cross-border terrorism against India, stated the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (May 29, 2025).
“We are unequivocal that dialogue and terrorism cannot coexist. Regarding terrorism, we are willing to discuss the extradition to India of prominent terrorists whose names were provided to Pakistan several years ago. I want to emphasize that any bilateral discussions concerning Jammu and Kashmir will solely focus on the withdrawal of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan, and the Indus Waters Treaty will remain suspended until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably renounces cross-border terrorism,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal remarked during a weekly press briefing.
“You are already aware of our stance that any engagement between India and Pakistan must be bilateral,” Mr. Jaiswal reiterated, highlighting the established framework for interaction between the two nations. In light of Operation Sindoor, during which India targeted several Pakistani sites associated with banned terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, officials have noted that both countries have retained diplomatic missions in each other’s capitals, thereby eliminating the possibility for third-party mediation.
Contrasting positions
The MEA’s remarks came in the context of a rally in Lahore addressed by several wanted terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, including Talha Saeed and Muzammil Hashmi. A video clip from the rally that has gone viral shows Mr. Hashmi threatening India with more cross-border terror attacks.
The rally stands in stark contrast to the multi-nation diplomacy that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has carried out over the past week, visiting Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran, and offering to hold talks with India on multiple issues, including Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty.
In response, Mr. Jaiswal said that India’s policy on Pakistan has been “clear and consistent”. He referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks, saying, “Terror and talks cannot go together. Terror and trade cannot go together and water and blood cannot flow together.”