Pakistan part of Jaishankar's meeting with German counterpart: ‘Challenge is…’

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Monday reiterated that India cannot have talks with Pakistan “while there is terrorism”, news agency ANI reported. Jaishankar was addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Delhi.

“Regarding Pakistan, I spent some time with the minister outlining the nature of our ties and the challenge of cross-border terrorism, but the main challenge today is that we cannot have talks while there is terrorism. There was an understanding from the German side as well,” ANI quoted Jaishankar as saying.

Jaishankar signed an agreement on the comprehensive migration and mobility partnership with Baerbock. The German foreign minister landed in Delhi earlier on Monday. During her visit, she will be discussing cooperation on the transition to renewable energy and India's relationship with Russia and China.

“Today, we have spent the morning exchanging views on the major international issues of the day, apart from our bilateral relationship. This included the conflict in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific strategic situation, developments pertaining to Afghanistan and Pakistan to some degree Iran, Syria, and each one of us brought to this set of issues our perspectives. I found it very useful, and very rewarding to listen to your perspectives on many matters,” the EAM said.

“We also discussed multilateral issues. India and Germany interact in the framework of the G4 when it comes to the reform of the UN Security Council. We had a discussion on India's G20 presidency, which comes just as Germany itself is concluding a successful G7 presidency,” Jaishankar added.

Baerbock said, “India's G20 Presidency and your presidency in UNSC overlap with our G7 presidency. I would like to thank you for assuming the presidency of G20. You made it clear in our discussion that it's a very special task. India assuming global responsibility in this difficult moment.”

“I am delighted that India during its G20 presidency with the motto ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ is putting a special focus on containing the climate crisis. Thus, highlighting our common responsibility when it comes to climate change,” the German foreign minister added.