The Foreign Office on Wednesday rejected remarks made by Indian Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar in which he indirectly referred to Pakistan as the “epicentre” of terrorism while on a tour to Austria.
Jaishankar made the remarks on Monday during a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg while on a two-nation visit to Austria and Cyprus.
“Since the epicentre [of terrorism] is located so close to India, naturally, our experiences and insights are useful to others,” Jaishankar had said, after making a mention of “cross-border practises” of terrorism.
That same day, Jaishankar said that he “could use much harsher words [for Pakistan] than epicentre” during an interview on program ZIB 2 on Austria’s national broadcaster ORF, when the host remarked that the use of the word “epicentre […] doesn’t sound very diplomatic”.
He added: “Considering what has been happening to us, I think epicentre is a very diplomatic word.”
