Jaishankar: Pakistan Terror Concerns Strain India-US Ties — SkimNews
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- S. Jaishankar told an Asia Society audience in New York that if India's core concern of cross-border terror from its neighbor 'is not fully appreciated by my partner, then clearly there is an impact on the relationship,' speaking specifically about India-U.S. ties amid Washington's renewed engagement with Pakistan.
- India launched Operation Sindoor in May 2025 against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, retaliating for the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam attack by The Resistance Front (a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy) that killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists.
- Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he stopped the India-Pakistan conflict — including at his UNGA address the week prior — while India has consistently denied any third-party intervention in the matter.
- Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir was hosted for lunch at the White House by Trump in June 2025 after the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, and met Trump again alongside PM Shehbaz Sharif during the September 2025 UNGA session; Trump has publicly called Munir 'a Great General. Great Field Marshal, a great guy.'
- Asked by moderator Daniel Russel how to put India-U.S. relations on a 'better track' after turbulence over tariffs, trade, and Russian energy purchases, Jaishankar said 'much of the world has had a more difficult relationship with the U.S.' before pivoting to the terrorism issue.
- Jaishankar said India 'would certainly hope for and expect the relationship to move on an upward trajectory,' but added that progress on existing issues would determine whether ties improve.
- Other coverage (India Today World) zeroes in on the trade-deal angle, but the source shows Jaishankar's substantive answer pivoted from trade to terrorism — a signal that India views the Pakistan-engagement question, not tariffs, as the central irritant.
Why it matters: Jaishankar used a high-profile UNGA-adjacent platform to publicly name terrorism — not trade — as the core friction point, while the Trump administration has hosted Pakistan's military leadership twice at the White House and claims credit for India-Pakistan de-escalation that India denies. For New Delhi, the diplomatic signal is that Washington's embrace of Field Marshal Munir is now a bilateral irritant at the ministerial level; for Washington, it means the Pakistan re-engagement policy carries a direct cost in ties with India.
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