May 14, 2025
NEW DELHI – The Centre on Tuesday asserted that all issues between India and Pakistan will be addressed bilaterally, virtually rejecting US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between the two countries on the Kashmir issue.
Addressing the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed. The outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan.”
In the latest statement made by the Pakistan Foreign Office, Jaiswal said, “We have seen the statement made by the Pakistani side. That a nation which has nurtured terrorism on an industrial scale should think that it can escape the consequences, is fooling itself.”
“The terrorist infrastructure sites that India destroyed were responsible not only for the deaths of Indians but of many other innocents around the world. There is now a new normal. The sooner Pakistan gets it, the better it is,” he said.
Jaiswal further said, “We have had several rounds of briefings and in these briefings we have also shared with you the kind of linkage we see between the perpetrators of the attack of Pahalgam in particular, The Resistance Front (TRF). Foreign Secretary, in his statement, also made very clear the kind of evidence that we see, and an investigation is going on in this particular matter.
“You would have seen that TRF had taken responsibility, and on the second day, twice they had taken responsibility. Thereafter, possibly at the behest of their handlers, they rolled it back. But TRF is one organisation which is a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. We have been pursuing the listing of TRF by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee,” he said.
On Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s interview to foreign media, Jaiswal said, “In the last week, as a result of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has seen its terrorism centres in Bahawalpur, Muridke, Muzaffarabad and other places destroyed. Thereafter, its military capabilities were significantly degraded by us and key airbases effectively put out of action. If the Pakistani FM wishes to project these as achievements, he is welcome to do so. Where India is concerned, our stand was clear and consistent from the start. We would target terrorist infrastructure operating out of Pakistan.”
“If the Pakistani military stayed out, there would be no problem. If they fired on us, we would respond suitably. Till the night of 9th May, Pakistan was threatening India with a massive assault. Once their attempt failed on 10th May morning and they received a devastating Indian counter-response, their tune changed and their DGMO eventually reached out to us,” the MEA spokesperson said.