Pahalgam attack aimed to derail Kashmir economy, spark religious unrest: Jaishankar

Jaishankar will next travel to Washington, D.C., to attend the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has described the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, as an “act of economic warfare” aimed at derailing Kashmir’s tourism-driven economy and provoking communal unrest.

Speaking at a public conversation, late Monday evening, with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad at the magazine’s headquarters in Manhattan, Jaishankar asserted that India will no longer tolerate terrorism from across the border nor be deterred by the threat of nuclear escalation.

The interaction took place against the backdrop of the 9/11 Memorial at One World Trade Center.

“The Pahalgam attack was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, the mainstay of the region’s economy. Victims were reportedly asked to identify their faith before being killed—clearly an attempt to incite religious violence,” Jaishankar noted.

India, he added, could no longer allow terrorists to operate with impunity simply because they are across the border.

“The idea that geography insulates them from retribution is a proposition that needs to be challenged and that’s exactly what we did,” he said, referring to Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Operation Sindoor, launched by Indian armed forces in the wee hours of May 7, targeted the headquarters of terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack through its front, The Resistance Front (TRF). Jaishankar noted that these terrorist groups operate openly from populated areas in Pakistan, with known headquarters akin to “corporate offices.”

“We are very clear....there will be no impunity for terrorists. No more treating them as proxies and sparing the governments that support and fund them. And we will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent us from responding,” he declared, receiving applause from the audience.

Jaishankar also dismissed the long-standing notion that both India and Pakistan being nuclear powers automatically restrains New Delhi’s response to terror provocations.

“We are not going to fall for that anymore. If they attack, we will respond. No yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, and no free pass for their sponsors,” he remarked.

The EAM, on an official visit to the U.S., began his tour by inaugurating a United Nations exhibition titled The Human Cost of Terrorism. Organised by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, the exhibit aims to draw global attention to the toll of state-sponsored terror.

He reiterated India’s long-standing position that terrorism poses a threat to all nations and should not be used as a tool of statecraft. “There should be zero tolerance for terrorism. No excuse, no justification, no circumstances should allow any country to support or finance such acts,” he stated.

Recalling India's decades-long struggle with terrorism, Jaishankar said the issue began shortly after Independence in 1947 when Pakistan-backed infiltrators entered Kashmir, followed by the Pakistani Army.

He also invoked previous high-profile attacks, including the 2001 Parliament assault and the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes, to underline India’s history of confronting terrorism.

During the Q&A session, Jaishankar was asked about former President Donald Trump’s claim that he used trade negotiations to de-escalate recent tensions between India and Pakistan. Jaishankar dismissed any such linkage, saying trade officials on both sides remained focused on negotiations.

“They’re doing what they should, negotiating with numbers, lines, and products. I think they’re very professional and focused,” he said.

Jaishankar revealed that during a critical moment on May 9, US Vice President J.D. Vance had conveyed to Prime Minister Modi that Pakistan might launch a massive assault if India didn’t concede on certain matters.

“The Prime Minister was impervious to such threats. He made it clear there would be a response...and there was, swiftly,” Jaishankar recalled. “The next morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called to say Pakistan was ready to talk. That’s what happened ....I was in the room,” he further added.

Jaishankar will next travel to Washington, D.C., to attend the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday.