After shaking hands in Dhaka, S Jaishankar returns home, calls Pakistan a 'bad neighbor'

Just two days after a courtesy meeting and handshake in Dhaka, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has made a strong statement, calling Pakistan a 'bad neighbor'. He came to Dhaka to pay his last respects to former Bangladesh Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, and met and shook hands with Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

After returning home after his Dhaka visit, Jaishankar spoke in harsh language in a speech given to students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Madras, India. According to a report by Indian media NDTV, he made this comment while referring to 'Operation Sindoor'.

Jaishankar said, “No one can tell us what we should or should not do. Unfortunately, we have a bad neighbour. If a country deliberately, consistently and unrepentantly wants to carry out terrorism, then we have the right to protect our people.”

He added that India will decide how this right will be exercised. He also clarified that India will do whatever is necessary for self-defense.

Citing the Indus Water Treaty signed with Pakistan in 1960, Jaishankar said that the decision to suspend the treaty after the Pahalgam attack was a reflection of the real situation. “If terrorism continues for decades, good neighbourliness cannot survive and its benefits cannot be obtained,” he said.

He added, “On one hand you cannot say, ‘Share water with me’ and on the other hand you continue terrorism.”

Regarding India’s neighbouring countries, Jaishankar said that India is surrounded by ‘different types of neighbours’. If a neighbor is cooperative or not harmful, then India's natural tendency is to be sympathetic and cooperative.

It is worth noting that S Jaishankar had earlier commented that the root cause of most of India's problems is the Pakistani army.