Jaishankar warns Pakistan of 'very, very firm response' to any retaliation

S Jaishankar's remarks came at the 20th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting held earlier today

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday warned Pakistan against attempting any military attacks on India, saying it would be met with a "very, very firm response".

 

Jaishankar's remarks came at the 20th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting held in the national capital today. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in New Delhi around midnight on Wednesday on a scheduled visit amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

 

"If there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response," a government statement quoted the minister as saying.

 

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar also held a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir. The minister, who came unannounced to Delhi today, held talks with Jaishankar as the tensions escalate between India and Pakistan.

 

Operation Sindoor

 

On Wednesday, the Indian armed forces carried out coordinated missile strikes on terrorist infrastructure in nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) under a code name 'Operation Sindoor'. The attack was in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

 

Among the sites targeted by Indian forces was Jaish-e-Mohammad's centre, Bahawalpur. In the attack, JeM's founder, Maulana Masood Azhar, claimed that 10 of his family members were killed along with four close associates.

 

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that "India exercised its right to self-defence". He further stated that India has found conclusive evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack.

 

Following the coordinated missile strike, the Pakistani Army resorted to heavy shelling in border areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of 13 civilians and over 50 injuries. 

 

India-Iran ties

 

The meeting between S Jaishankar and Abbas Araghchi came as the two nations complete 75 years of their diplomatic ties. Lauding the bilateral ties between the two countries, Jaishankar noted, "The cooperation between the two nations has progressed in many aspects in recent years.

 

Iran's Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that Araghchi is in India to review the bilateral ties between the two nations and discuss regional and international developments. He said that India and Iran should work together to strengthen peace, security, and stability across the regions and beyond.