At Quad, EAM Jaishankar Reiterates Indias Right To Defend Against Terrorism, Flays Pakistan
'India has every right to defend its people against terrorism, and we will exercise that right," he said with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Ministers Penny Wong of Australia and Takeshi Iwaya of Japan standing beside him. Jaishankar's statement came hours after Rajnath Singh spoke to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and explained India's actions during Operation Sindoor.
Just finished a very productive meeting of Quad Foreign Ministers in Washington DC. Discussed how to make Quad more focused and impactful on contemporary opportunities and challenges.
Today's gathering will strengthen strategic stability in the Indo - Pacific and keep it free… pic.twitter.com/M9Vg5NaxMR — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 1, 2025
This is the first Quad ministerial where the four foreign ministers will be meeting together after the heinous Pahalgam massacre on April 22 by Pakistan-backed terrorists and India's decisive 'Operation Sindoor' against them.
"We expect our quad partners to understand and appreciate that," said Jaishankar. Referring to the Pahalgam attack, EAM Jaishankar said, "A word about terrorism in the light of our recent experience: The world must display zero tolerance. Victims and perpetrators must never be equated".
Counter-terrorism is one of the elemental items in the Quad agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to host the summit of the Quad leaders later this year with the US President Donald Trump and Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia and Shigeru Ishiba of Japan.
"We have some proposals on how to make that productive," Jaishankar said. "I'm sure so do our partners, [and] we will discuss and I'm sure we can agree on going about it".
"A lot is happening in the world, and I'm sure that our exchange of views will be very valuable for all of us," he added.
The Quad is committed to a rules-based international order and "it is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions," he said.
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