"Astonished...": S Jaishankar On Whether India, Pak Were Close To Nuke War

India and Pakistan were nowhere close to a nuclear conflict during their recent military clash, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said, pointing to a narrative in the West that anything that happens in South Asia is promptly linked to a nuclear crisis.

Asked "how far away was the world from a nuclear conflict", Dr Jaishankar said he was "astonished" by the question. "Very, very far away. I'm frankly astonished by your question. We have terrorist targets. Those were very measured, carefully considered and non-escalating steps. After that, the Pakistani military opened fire on us. We were able to show them that we could disable their air defence systems. Then the firing stopped at their request.

"At no point was a nuclear level reached. There is a narrative as if everything that happens in our part of the world leads directly to a nuclear problem. That disturbs me a lot because it encourages terrible activities like terrorism. If anything, much more is happening with the nuclear issue in your part of the world," he told the interviewer from German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

On May 10, India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire after three days of cross-border conflict. India on May 7 carried out airstrikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 innocents dead. India stressed that Operation Sindoor was aimed at destroying terror bases, but Pakistan responded by firing hundreds of drones at India's military installations and civilian areas. In retaliation, India targeted Pakistan's military installation, inflicting heavy damage. Shortly after, Pakistan military authorities reached out to their Indian counterparts and a ceasefire was agreed upon.

The minister was also asked if China played a role in the conflict. "You know, many of the weapons systems that Pakistan has are of Chinese origin and the two countries are very close. You can draw your own conclusions from that," he replied.

Dr Jaishankar also had a sharp response to a question on why India and Germany have different positions on Russia and the war in Ukraine and why New Delhi continues to maintain a close partnership with Moscow.

"Relationships do not develop because one partner simply adopts the concerns of the other as their own. Relationships are built on finding common ground. For you in Europe, other concerns and worries are important than for me in Asia. When you think of conflict, you think of Ukraine. When I think of conflict, I think of Pakistan, terrorism, China and our borders. Our perspective cannot be the same," he replied.

The interviewer asked a counter question: "But in an increasingly multipolar world, surely we can agree that the importance of international law is increasing in order to monitor the rules of the game? And that Russia is violating it?"

Dr Jaishankar replied, "As soon as you bring a rule or norm into play, it is again linked to the situation that is your priority. You talk about rules and think of Ukraine. I talk about rules and I think of my own borders, of Pakistan, which has violated my borders, and China, which has done the same. So when you talk about borders and territorial integrity, I ask you: What about my borders?"

As the interviewer pressed on, the minister said, "My neighbor Pakistan has caused every conceivable problem under the sun, from nuclear weaponization, to the transfer of nuclear technology to irresponsible partners, to terrorism. But doesn't Germany also do business with Pakistan?"