MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reacted to the Saudi-Pakistan defence pact, reaffirming India-Saudi strategic ties, while addressing recent JeM and LeT videos confirming destruction of terror camps during Operation Sindoor. He also commented on the US revoking sanctions waiver on Iran’s Chabahar Port, saying India is examining the implications.
MEA official Randhir Jaiswal File (Photo Credits: ANI)
Reacting to the recent Saudi Arabia-Pakistan defence pact, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said India and Saudi Arabia share a wide-ranging strategic partnership, and New Delhi expects this relationship to take into account mutual interests and sensitivities.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ on Thursday, pledging that any aggression against either nation would be treated as an attack on both. The agreement was signed during a state visit by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Riyadh, at the invitation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
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MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly press briefing, “India and Saudi Arabia have a wide-ranging strategic partnership which has deepened considerably in the last several years. We expect that this strategic partnership will keep in mind mutual interests and sensitivities.”
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Meanwhile, reacting to the recent videos of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan, Jaiswal stated, “On terrorism matters, we are clear that the world is aware of the nexus between the terrorists and the Pakistani state and the military.”
“We all have to fight cross-border terrorism. We call on the world to intensify our efforts to deal with terrorism,” he stated.
After a JeM commander admitted that a strike severely harmed Masood Azhar’s family, another video has surfaced featuring LeT commander Qaasim, confirming the destruction of the Markaz Taiba camp in Muridke, in Pakistan’s Punjab, directly contradicting Islamabad’s denials of the strikes.
“I am standing in front of the Markaz Taiba in Muridke… It was destroyed in the attack during Operation Sindoor. We will rebuild it and make it even bigger. From here, many Mujahideen were trained and went on to achieve Faiz [victory],” the LeT commander said in the video, as reported by ANI on Friday.
Qaasim had publicly admitted to the camp’s destruction just days after Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, in another viral video, confessed that the strikes on Markaz Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur, JeM’s headquarters, during Operation Sindoor had killed the family members of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
The video showed Qaasim standing amid the rubble of the destroyed camp, vowing to rebuild a much larger facility. He admitted that numerous terrorists had been trained at the site, including “Mujahideens and Talaba,” who, he claimed, went on to achieve “victory” (Faiz).
The MEA spokesperson noted that India has seen the US press statement regarding revocation of sanctions waiver for the Chabahar Port. “We are presently examining its implications for India,” he said.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, in yet another hard move against India, has announced the revocation of its waiver of sanctions over the Iranian port of Chabahar, in almost 10 days, terminating a special waiver granted to India in 2018.
According to a statement issued by the US Department of State on Tuesday, the operators of the Chabahar Port in Iran will face US sanctions starting September 29.
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