"Cross-Border Terrorism Is Not Statecraft", Says India

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar international community "must unite against this menace (terrorism), as seriously as it does on issues like climate change and pandemics."

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India said on Tuesday that cross-border terrorism is not statecraft but simply another form of the menace as it called upon the international community to unite against this evil, as seriously as it does on issues like climate change and pandemics.

Addressing the 6th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also asserted that connectivity must respect the most basic principle of international relations-respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, an apparent reference to India's objection to China's ambitious infrastructure development plans in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

"If peace and development is our common goal, the biggest enemy we must overcome is terrorism. In this day and age, we cannot countenance its use by one state against another. Cross-border terrorism is not statecraft; it is simply another form of terrorism," he told the gathering without naming any country.

He said the international community "must unite against this menace, as seriously as it does on issues like climate change and pandemics."