Vowing to give an appropriate response to Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, India’s stance to handle the neighbouring country has changed, unlike previous governments, adding that actions like Uri and Balakot were taken by the Modi government.

“As far as Pakistan is concerned, there is a history of cross-border terrorism. But you also know that till the Modi government came, we were tolerating it. We were turning the other cheek. We were not acting. After Modi ji came, things have changed,” EAM Jaishankar said.

“You saw Uri, Balakot. So we have made it very clear today that any threat of terrorism, cross border terrorism which comes from Pakistan will get the appropriate response from India,” he added.

Addressing the ongoing Israel-Iran tensions in the Middle East, EAM Jaishankar highlighted India has a responsibility to protect 90 lakh citizens living in the Gulf region and work on both the military and diplomatic front to de-escalate the situation.

“In the entire Gulf area and parts of Western Asia, war conditions and tensions prevail... Nearly 90 lakh Indian citizens live in the Gulf region. It is our responsibility to look after them... The rulers of Gulf countries value PM Narendra Modi so much that during COVID, they gave preferential treatment to Indians,” he said.

“Now, 21 Indian Navy ships have been deployed in the region and their job is to maintain peace and guard the merchant ships. In the diplomatic area, when the two sides engaged with each other for a brief period, I contacted the Foreign Ministers of the two nations and gave PM Narendra Modi’s message to them that the world wants them to not go ahead with the war, and that they should tone down the tensions responsibly. And this is what happened,” he added.

On April 12, after a report in the leading British daily The Guardian claimed that the country’s external espionage agency R&AW took out wanted terrorists deep inside Pakistan at the behest of the Centre, EAM Jaishankar underlined the government’s unwavering commitment to respond to any act of terrorism perpetrated from across the border.

Drawing a parallel with the previous Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, with regard to its response to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, the External Affairs Minister said a country “cannot have any rules” when dealing with the perpetrators of terror as the latter don’t play by the rules.