‘India confronting challenge of terrorism, shared threat to international community’

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday said India is “confronting” the challenge of terrorism, which is a “shared threat” to the international community.

The minister thanked those who have expressed solidarity with the country and understand the “resolute response that is underway”.

He was delivering an address at an event hosted at the Russian Embassy here to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II.

“It is a great pleasure to join you all on this occasion to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the war over fascism in 1945,” Jaishankar said.

“We also meet at a time when India is confronting the challenge of terrorism, one that is a shared threat to the international community. I thank those who have expressed solidarity with us and understand the resolute response that is underway,” he added.

The Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out precise missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.

India on Thursday thwarted Pakistan’s attempts to strike military sites with

drones and missiles at 15 places in northern and western regions of the country and targeted Pakistani air defence systems with one in Lahore being “neutralised”.

Since the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar have received calls from their counterparts in several countries, condemning the April 22 attack, conveying condolences over the loss of lives and expressing solidarity with India.

Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed to Prime Minister Modi in a phone call on May 5 that his nation fully backs India’s fight against terrorism and that the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack must be brought to justice.

A Russian embassy readout had said that Putin described the terror attack as “barbaric” and the two leaders emphasised the need for an “uncompromising fight” against terrorism in all its manifestations.

Jaishankar in his address at the embassy also said, “Today is an occasion for hope and optimism, as also for remembrance, underpinned by the conviction, that international cooperation is even more important than even before.”

“It is an endorsement of our diplomatic endeavours be that bilateral, regional or multilateral,” he added.