India tears into Pakistan’s ‘non-state’ alibi

In a clear indication that India has decided to demolish Pakistan’s core narrative of a state-non-state terror dichotomy, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar put it out bluntly on Friday by saying that a state (read Pakistan) cannot absolve itself of responsibility for acts of terrorism by saying it was being perpetrated by a non-state actor.

“The state cannot escape responsibility by saying it is non-state...At some stage the differentiation is not borne out on the ground. There is a connect between state actor and non-state actor that is why we use the word ‘sponsored’,” Mr Jaishankar said replying to a query in a conference organised by East West Centre.

Saying that the world has a better sense of the nesting ground of terrorism in the region — where terrorism is being bred and nurtured — the foreign secretary stated that one cannot have “a segmented, differentiated fight against terrorism.”

The country’s top diplomat’s tough stand is in actuality a corollary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthright statements during his recent official tour in China and Vietnam.

On Thursday, in the East Asia summit in Vientiane, Laos, Primi Minister Modi had said there was a need to target not just terrorists but also their entire supporting ecosystem and that the strongest action should be reserved “for those state actors who employ terrorism as an instrument of state policy.” And on Monday, addressing the G20 leaders in China’s Hangzhou, Mr Modi had said in obvious reference to Pakistan: “One single nation in South Asia is spreading these agents of terror in countries of our region For us a terrorist is a terrorist.” Referring to China, the foreign secretary said that sanctioning of well-known terrorist leaders and organisations besides developmental issues like access to cooperation and investments in the field of civil nuclear energy should not emerge as points of difference with a “partner” like China.

Rather, Mr Jaishankar said, one should not ignore the collaborative and convergent side of the Indo-China ties as the relationship is not a “zero sum game” and the two nations should approach each other with strategic maturity.

At the same time, admitting that the relationship between the two South Asian giants as “complicated,” he said part of the reason is the weight of history that this particular relationship carries on its shoulders, the great potential that it holds and the impact that its direction could have on regional and global politics.

“The report card of our ties for the last three decades is much stronger than many assume,” he said adding that the fact that the two countries meet and cooperate in mechanisms ranging from EAS, G-20 and SCO to BRICS, RIC and BASIC “is not a small achievement”.

“A full realisation of the vision agreed upon between the leaders of the two nations in 2014-15 requires relations to be continuously nurtured,” the foreign secretary said.