Last Updated:January 02, 2026, 13:42 IST

EAM Jaishankar asserted India’s right to defend itself from ‘bad’ neighbours. He stated that terrorism and cooperation cannot coexist.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday delivered a strong message against terrorism, stating that India has every right to defend itself against those neighbours who support terror while simultaneously seeking cooperation from New Delhi. Referring to Pakistan, the External Affairs Minister underlined that good neighbourly relations cannot coexist with continued acts of terrorism.

Speaking at an event at IIT Madras, Jaishankar said, “But when it comes to bad neighbours who persist with terrorism, India has every right to defend its people and will do whatever is necessary. You cannot request us to share our water with you and also spread terrorism in our country.”

‘Nobody Can Tell Us What We Should Or Shouldn’t’: EAM

Elaborating on India’s neighbourhood policy, the EAM said India’s approach is guided by “common sense,” distinguishing clearly between cooperative neighbours and hostile ones. “You can also 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. How we exercise that right is up to us. Nobody can tell us what we should or should not do. We will do whatever we have to do to defend ourselves,” he said.

He further linked terrorism with the erosion of trust in regional cooperation, particularly in areas such as water-sharing agreements. “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 terrorism with you.” That’s not reconcilable,” Jaishankar added.

Jaishankar Highlights India’s Vaccine Support To World During Covid

Contrasting this with India’s approach toward friendly neighbours, Jaishankar highlighted New Delhi’s consistent support during crises. “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. India’s growth is a lifting tide for the region, and most of our neighbours recognise that if India grows, they grow with us,” the minister remarked.

He also mentioned that he had recently visited Bangladesh to represent India at the funeral of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Jaishankar also spoke about India’s broader worldview, referencing the idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. “…When we use this word so casually ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, what is actually the messaging of that word of that term? The term is that we have never considered the world as an inimical or a hostile environment from which we have to defensively protect ourselves,” he said, adding that Indian diplomacy today focuses on problem-solving by leveraging strengths, competitiveness, and partnerships.

Highlighting India’s global outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic, the foreign minister said vaccine diplomacy had an unmatched emotional impact worldwide. “In my entire career, I have never seen anything having a greater emotional impact on the rest of the world than giving vaccines,” he remarked, recalling how many developing and small island nations depended on India when richer countries stockpiled doses.

Concluding his remarks, Jaishankar reflected on India’s civilisational identity and its role in the evolving global order. “India is among the very few ancient civilizations that have survived to become major modern nation-states. We carry a deep sense of our past, inherited through our beliefs, language, and culture. It’s about rediscovering and expressing our own internal tools and creativity, not in an anti-Western way, but a non-Western one,” he said, noting that global diversity would coexist with and reinforce shared democratic values.

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