'Political Pluralism': Jaishankar Hails Multi-Party Op Sindoor Outreach At Quad Meet

Last Updated:July 02, 2025, 23:57 IST

The foreign ministers of the QUAD group - the US, India, Japan, and Australia - condemned the Pahalgam terror attack during Wednesday's meeting in Washington.

EAM S Jaishankar speaking to the media in Washington. (PTI)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday attended the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in Washington, where he told his partners that India had the right to defend itself against terrorist activities and hold the perpetrators accountable. He also lauded the all-party delegations to various countries after Operation Sindoor and said they sent a strong unified message.

While speaking to the media in Washington DC, Jaishankar said, “With each of my counterparts, I have shared with them the sense that the nature of the terrorists challenge, the fact that we have confronted it over multiple decades and that we are very resolved today to respond to it very firmly and we have the right to defend ourselves," he said."

“The perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable, they must be brought to justice and that’s important because we have to communicate to the world that what we did on 7th May, the objective of Operation Sindoor is that if there are terrorist attacks, we will act against the perpetrators, the supporters, the enablers. That message was conveyed with great clarity," he added.

Jaishankar further said the issue of US President Donald Trump brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan did not come up at the meeting, although he maintained that a truce was decided in the meeting between the DGMOs of two countries.

Jaishankar Hails Multi-Party Diplomacy

During the press conference, Jaishankar also hailed the all-party delegations to convey India’s message after Operation Sindoor, saying it conveyed a strong message of national unity.

“You saw the political pluralism of India come together on an important issue and send a strong unified message and I think that was something really great and it’s something which quite apart from being a minister, honestly, as a person, as an Indian citizen, I applaud that."

Jaishankar also criticised some countries for not taking a position when other nations are a victim of terrorism. “It is a fact that often countries do not take a position when some other countries are victims of terrorism, which they would do when they themselves are," he said.

“In that respect, we have been much more consistent and principled. When terror attacks happen elsewhere outside India, we have largely followed the same position that we have taken when they have happened in India. Many of them are not doing it or not doing it sufficiently enough and part of diplomacy is to exhort them, encourage them, persuade them, motivate them to do that, and which is why it’s important to speak up, and which is why it’s important to carry them with us to the best possibility," he said at the press conference.

India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. India struck several terror hideouts and eliminated more than 100 terrorists.

Earlier today, the foreign ministers of all Quad countries unequivocally condemned the April 22’s ghastly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 individuals.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured. We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UNSCRs, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard," the statement said.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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