India says era of talks with Pakistan over

IEA Minister Jaishankar says New Delhi will react to any development, positive or negative

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that the "era of uninterrupted dialogue" with Pakistan had ended, emphasising that New Delhi would react to developments, whether positive or negative.

Speaking at a book launch event, according to India media reports, Jaishankar remarked that for any country, neighbours were "always a conundrum," as were the major powers because of their broad interests.

"Major powers will always have an agenda, which will overlap with us, but to differing degrees, also diverge," he said. "In the case of China, you have a 'double conundrum,' because it's a neighbour and a major power. So, the challenges with China fit this double definition."

Jaishankar attended the launching of the book, titled 'Strategic Conundrum: Reshaping India's Foreign Policy' authored by former Indian diplomat Rajiv Sikri. The book examined India's relations with its neighbours and the associated challenges.

In his speech, Jaishankar highlighted the ongoing debates in the region regarding the organisations focused on regional cooperation – the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

"The real issue is that of overlapping identities versus forging new ones. So, everywhere there is history at play, but there is politics that often contests history, and this in a way is a perennial challenge for India's relationships with all its neighbours," he said.

About relationship with Pakistan, Jaishankar said: "I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences, and insofar as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think Article 370 is done."

So, he added: "The issue today is what kind of relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan. What I do want to say is that we are not passive, and whether events take a positive or negative direction, either way, we will react."

On India's relations with Afghanistan, Jaishankar noted the existence of "strong people-to-people relations" and goodwill at the societal level.