Overview
- Speaking at IIT Madras, the external affairs minister said India alone will decide how to respond to cross-border terrorism and will do whatever is necessary to protect its citizens.
- He characterised the western neighbour as a bad neighbour employing terrorism as state policy, arguing that such conduct destroys the basis for trust.
- He linked persistent terror to the breakdown of cooperation, noting India put the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the Pahalgam killings.
- In an apparent reference to reported Operation Sindoor, he indicated India had acted against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan‑occupied Kashmir last year.
- He contrasted punitive measures with support for cooperative neighbours, highlighting vaccine and crisis assistance, a $4 billion lifeline to Sri Lanka, recent outreach in Dhaka, and a formal protest to China over the detention of an Arunachal Pradesh woman.