Talks with Pak on J&K only after PoK is returned: MEA spokesperson Jaiswal

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated that any engagement with Pakistan will have to be bilateral, and that talks and terrorism cannot go together

Any engagement with Pakistan has to be bilateral, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.

 

"As far as our engagement with Pakistan is concerned, our stand has been clear. Any engagement has to be bilateral," he said during a media briefing here.

 

#WATCH | Delhi: MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "... As far as our engagement with Pakistan is concerned, our stand has been clear. Any engagement has to be bilateral. We would like to reiterate that terrorism and talks cannot go together. They need to hand over to India,… pic.twitter.com/ew2AKiTHZ9

— ANI (@ANI) May 29, 2025

Jaiswal also emphasised that talks and terrorism cannot go together. "We would like to reiterate that terrorism and talks cannot go together. They need to hand it over to India, noted terrorists, whose records and list we submitted to them some years ago," he said.

 

 

Jaiswal added that New Delhi will hold talks with Islamabad on Jammu and Kashmir only after the latter hands over Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) territory to India.

 

"As far as the Indus Water Treaty is concerned, it will remain in abeyance till the time Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support to cross-border terrorism. Just like PM Narendra Modi says, terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot flow together," Jaiswal said.

 

India put the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance as part of its diplomatic actions following a terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, that left 26 civilians dead. 

 

After the terror attack, tensions started escalating between the two nuclear-capable neighbours. Both sides engaged in military action for a few days until the Pakistan Director General of Military Operations called his Indian counterpart to ask for a stoppage. Indian armed forces attacked terror camps located in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, which was a retaliation to the Pahalgam incident.

 

(With ANI inputs)