Home India India Officially Defends Iran over Pakistan Attack

India Officially Defends Iran over Pakistan Attack

India expressed support for Iran’s airstrikes on alleged terror camps in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, characterizing it as an act of “self-defense.” In a statement issued on January 17, a day after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) launched missiles at what they identified as two “significant” bases of the Jaish al-Adl terror group in Balochistan Province, India’s Ministry of External Affairs stated that while the matter was bilateral between Iran and Pakistan, India maintains an “uncompromising” stance on terrorism. Notably, the statement did not address Iran’s strikes on Kurdish areas in Iraq and Syria, both of which occurred on the same day.

“This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan,” the Ministry of External affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement. “Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence.”

The airstrikes on January 16 occurred a day after the visit of India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, to Iran. During the visit, he held discussions with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian. Mr. Jaishankar is scheduled to meet Mr. Abdollahian again in Uganda during the summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries on January 19-20. Additionally, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council is expected to visit India soon for talks with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. These developments indicate an intensified diplomatic engagement between Delhi and Tehran.

India’s statements in defense of Iran’s actions demonstrate support for Iran, even amid escalating tensions in West Asia. These tensions involve conflicts between Iran and the U.S. regarding Israel’s war on Gaza, U.S. strikes in Yemen, and attacks by Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, has criticized the strikes on Iraq, denouncing them as “reckless and imprecise.”

In response to the IRGC’s announcement of the strikes, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry reacted strongly by recalling its Ambassador from Tehran and canceling all high-level visits, a move mirrored by Iraq. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan stated that Iran’s “unprovoked violation” of Pakistani airspace and sovereignty resulted in the tragic death of two children.

Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar held a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian at the Davos forum on January 17. During the meeting, Abdollahian emphasized that the strikes had exclusively targeted terrorists and not the “citizens of neighbors, friends, and brothers” in Iraq and Pakistan.

“We respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq, but we do not allow our national security to be compromised, and we have no compunction about [dealing with] terrorist parties inside Pakistan and Israeli movements in the Kurdistan region of Iraq,” Mr. Abdollahian said. “What we did was aimed at boosting the security of Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and the region. We consider the security of Iraq and Pakistan to be that of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added, reiterating the message in a telephone conversation with the Acting Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani subsequently.

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