'Just Like Pandavas Could not Choose Their Relatives, India Also Cannot...': Jaishankar Slams Pakistan

New Delhi: In an apparent attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday (January 28, 2023) made a Hindu epic "Mahabharata" reference and said that "just like Pandavas could not choose their relatives, India also cannot choose its neighbours". While interacting with the audience in a question-answer session during the launch of 'Bharat Marg', the Marathi translation of his book 'The India Way', in Pune, he also touched on the topic of terrorism, saying no nation has suffered from the menace as much as India due to the "neighbour we have". He underlined India's robust stand against terrorism now and cited the surgical strikes post attacks in Pulwama and Uri and called them "decisive action".

"It is a reality to us... Pandavas could not choose relatives, we can't choose our neighbours," Jaishankar said when asked if "a neighbour and rogue nation (Pakistan), who happens to be nuclear power, will be an asset or a liability."

"We hope the good sense prevails. The practices of the past are not followed. That is our hope, and in diplomacy, it is important to be hopeful," he added.

आज मेरी पुस्तक का मराठी अनुवाद, “भारत मार्ग” का विमोचन हुआ।महाराष्ट्र के उप मुखमंत्री @Dev_Fadnavis जी का मुख्य अतिथि के रूप में उपस्थित होने के लिए धन्यवाद।

मेरा मानना है कि भारत मार्ग एक pathway है, लेकिन तरीक़ा और model भी है।

: https://t.co/V4hfEpHPcO pic.twitter.com/gn63ECd9DR — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 28, 2023

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (leader) also said that the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a technical matter and Indus commissioners of both countries will talk to each other on this issue. 

On India's view regarding current developments in Pakistan and what would be the implications of India's decisions regarding the IWT, he said that it would not be appropriate for him to comment in public about the happenings in that country.

"In this (Indus Water) treaty, there are commissioners from both countries (India and Pakistan). It is a technical matter and Indus commissioners will talk to each other and after that, we can see what would be the next step," Jaishankar said.

His remarks came against the backdrop of India, as per media reports, issuing a notice to Pakistan for the first time, seeking a review and modification of the IWT, in view of Islamabad's "intransigence" to comply with the dispute redressal mechanism of the pact that was signed more than six decades ago for matters relating to cross-border rivers.