"India Doesn't Wish To See Further Escalation": Sushma Swaraj In China

A day after India sent its fighter jets across the Line of Control to strike a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp within Pakistan, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said in China that India wants to avoid any "further escalation of the situation" and will "continue to act with responsibility and restraint".

The Foreign Minister made a strong statement against Pakistan and its refusal to act against terrorist groups on its soil in China. Justifying the pre-dawn air strike in Pakistan's Balakot, Sushma Swaraj also spoke about the "grief and anger" in India after the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber of the Jaish.

Sushma Swaraj, in China to attend the 16th Russia-India-China or RIC foreign ministers' meeting in Wuzhen, stressed during talks with her counterparts from Beijing and Moscow that "no military installations were targeted" in the air strike, and the target was selected to avoid civilian casualties.

"In the light of continuing refusal of Pakistan to acknowledge and act against terror groups on its territory, and based on credible information that JeM was planning other attacks in parts of India, the Government of India decided to take pre-emptive action and the target was selected in order to avoid civilian casualties," said the External Affairs Minister.

"The limited objective of the pre-emptive strike was to act decisively against the terrorist infrastructure of the JeM in order to pre-empt another terrorist attack in India," she added.

Ms Swaraj went on to say that "India does not wish to see further escalation of the situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint."

The meeting took place just over 24 hours after Indian Air Force fighter planes struck what the government says was the biggest terror training camp in Pakistan's Balakot, calling it a "non-military, pre-emptive strike" to prevent more attacks like Pulwama.

"I am visiting China at a time when there is grief and anger in India. It is the worst terrorist attack directed against our security forces in Jammu and Kashmir," she said in her opening remarks during the meeting held on the sidelines of the Russia, India, China Foreign Ministers meet.

In a statement on Tuesday after New Delhi said its warplanes had attacked a terrorist camp in Pakistan, China urged India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint".

"We hope that both India and Pakistan can exercise restraint and adopt actions that will help stabilise the situation in the region and improve mutual relations," Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang had said hours before Sushma Swaraj left for China.

Speaking about the Pulwama terror attack, Ms Swaraj said, "The attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation."

Stating that the JeM is banned by the UN and other countries, Ms Swaraj told Wang Yi that "this terrorist attack is the direct result of the impunity and cover provided to the JeM and its leaders by the Pakistani side".

After the Pulwama attack, she said, instead of taking seriously the calls by international community to act against JeM and other terror groups based in Pakistan, "Islamabad denied any knowledge of the attack and outrightly dismissed claims by Jaish-e-Mohammed."

Sushma Swaraj's meeting with China is significant as Beijing has repeatedly blocked India's bid at the United Nations to declare Jaish chief Masood Azhar a UN-designated global terrorist.

While countries across the world, including US, Russia, UK and France - part of the UNSC - condemned Pakistan's role in the Pulwama terror attack, China's stand on Masood Azhar remained unchanged.

Ms Swaraj, who arrived in Wuzhen early this morning, told Mr Wang that this is their first meeting this year and therefore an opportune time for the two sides to take stock of the bilateral relations and look ahead for cooperation.