There was no Response to 26/11 Mumbai terror Attack: Jaishankar

Mumbai: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that there was no response from India after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. “We cannot afford a repeat of the 26/11 terror attack. India now has a ‘zero tolerance’ towards terrorism,” he said.

“India failed to respond decisively following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai, where a terror attack went unanswered,” he said in Mumbai.

“When we talk of zero tolerance against terror, it is clear that when somebody does something, there will be a response. We also have to expose it. It is not acceptable that you are doing business during the daytime and indulging in terror during the night and I have to pretend that everything is okay. This India will not accept it. We are very clear, we need to expose terrorism,” Jaishankar added.

On November 26, 2008, 10 terrorists belonging to Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out attacks in Mumbai, killing 166 people and injuring more than 300.

The union minister called Mumbai a ‘symbolic’ city which reflects the country’s counter-terrorism approach.

“In 2022, we organised the UNSC Special Meeting of Counter-Terrorism Committee at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. It was the same hotel where a terror incident took place,” he said.

Jaishankar also alleged that terrorism in Kashmir is being fuelled from across the border. However, the repeal of Article 370 has brought a change in the state, he added.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, people have voted for democracy. In the recent elections there was a 60 percent voter turnout, which is important for democracy. It means those people put their faith in the decision to remove Article 370. It doesn’t matter who wins. It is a fact that India won,” he said.

Jaishankar’s comments about terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir have come after a series of terrorist attacks unfolded in the border state in the past few months. Four persons including two army jawans and two local porters were killed in a terror attack in the Gulmarg area of Jammu and Kashmir last week. In a separate incident, seven including non-locals were killed when terrorists struck a tunnel construction site on Srinagar-Leh national highway in the Ganderbal district.

“One of the ways to deal with cross-border terrorism is to integrate Kashmir very deeply with India. But it was earlier opposed for political reasons,” he said.