Pak a bad neighbour: Jaishankar

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday drew a distinction between government’s policy towards “good and bad” neighbours, saying that if a country decides that it will continue with terrorism, then India has the right to defend its people, an evident reference to Pakistan.

“You can have bad neighbours. Unfortunately, we do. When you have bad neighbours… if you look to the one to the west. If a country decides that it will deliberately, persistently, and unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people against terrorism. We will exercise that right,” Jaishankar said at the inauguration of Shaastra 2026- IIT Madras Techno-Entertainment fest, when asked about India’s neighbourhood policy.

He went on to say that how India exercises that right is up to it and nobody else can dictate that. “We will do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves. It’s a common sense proposition,” he said. US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly claiming that he mediated peace between India and Pakistan during the hostilities, when India launched “Operation Sindoor” in May after the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Referring to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a 65-year-old pact regulating water flowing from Indus river into Pakistan, which was put in abeyance in the aftermath of the Pahalgam massacre, he said “many years ago, we agreed to a water sharing arrangement, but if you had decades of terrorism, there is no good neighbourliness. If there is no good neighbourliness, you don't get the benefits of that good neighbourliness. You can't say, please share water with me, but I will continue with terrorism. That's not reconcilable.”

Jaishankar was speaking of his visit to Bangladesh to attend former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s funeral when the comparison between India’s approach to good and bad neighbours came up. “I was in Bangladesh just two days ago to represent India at the funeral of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. But more broadly, our approach to the neighbourhood is guided by common sense. With good neighbours, India invests, helps and shares - whether it was vaccines during COVID, fuel and food support during the Ukraine conflict, or the $4 billion assistance to Sri Lanka during its financial crisis.

He said that overall, in terms of neighbourhood policy, most of India’s neighbours acknowledge India’s growth story. “India’s growth is a lifting tide for the region, and most of our neighbours recognise that if India grows, they grow with us,” he said.