Jaishankar’s blunt message to Poland: Don’t help fuel terror infrastructure in our neighbourhood

NEW DELHI, Jan 19: Poland should display “zero-tolerance” for terrorism and not help “fuel” the terrorist infrastructure in India’s neighbourhood, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his Polish counterpart RadosÅ,aw Sikorski on Monday in a blunt message apparently over the mentioning of Kashmir in a Poland-Pakistan joint statement in October.
At a meeting with Sikorski, Jaishankar also expressed his anguish over the unfair and unjustified “selective targeting” of India over the Ukraine conflict, in what is seen as a reference to Western nations’ criticism of New Delhi over its energy ties with Russia.
The external affairs minister made the comments in his televised opening remarks at the meeting in New Delhi. Sikorski is also Poland’s deputy prime minister.
On his part, the Polish foreign minister said he completely agreed with Jaishankar on the “unfairness” and “selective targeting” in the context of tariffs over India’s relations with Russia.
Sikorski is on a three-day visit to India that came less than 10 days before the top leadership of the European Union travels to the country.
“You are no stranger to our region and are certainly familiar with the longstanding challenge of cross-border terrorism,” Jaishankar said.
“I hope at this meeting to discuss some of your recent travels to the region. Poland should display zero-tolerance for terrorism and not help fuel the terrorist infrastructure in our neighbourhood,” he said.
In late October, Sikorski travelled to Islamabad and held wide-ranging talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, following which a joint statement was issued that featured the Kashmir issue.
The external affairs minister also mentioned India’s consistent position on the Ukraine conflict. (PTI)