External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Washington, DC on Monday, July 1, 2025, for an official visit at the invitation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. His primary agenda is to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting (QFMM), scheduled for July 1.
This high-level meeting brings together the foreign ministers of the Quad countries—India, the United States, Japan, and Australia—to build upon discussions from their previous session in January 2025, also held in Washington, DC.
The focus of this meeting is to exchange views on significant regional and global developments, with particular emphasis on the Indo-Pacific, and to review progress on various Quad initiatives in preparation for the upcoming Quad Leaders' Summit, which India will host. The ministers are also expected to deliberate on new proposals to advance their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Before arriving in Washington, Jaishankar visited New York, where he inaugurated a digital exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters titled "The Human Cost of Terrorism." The exhibition, curated by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, highlights the devastating impact of terrorist acts worldwide, including major attacks such as the 1993 and 2008 Mumbai bombings, the 9/11 attacks in the US, and the recent April 22 Pahalgam attack in India.
The exhibition features images, videos, and testimonies, as well as details about the perpetrators—many of whom are linked to Pakistan-based and UN-proscribed entities. It serves as a tribute to victims and a call for global solidarity against terrorism.
During his remarks at the UN, Jaishankar emphasized the urgent need for zero tolerance towards terrorism, underscoring that there should be "no impunity to terrorists, no treating them as proxies, and no yielding to nuclear blackmails"
He referenced the UN Security Council's strong condemnation of the Pahalgam attack and India's subsequent Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Jaishankar called for the international community to expose and counter state sponsorship of terrorism, stating, "Terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere."
He stressed that combating terrorism is a shared responsibility and highlighted the importance of upholding human rights and global norms in this fight.
Jaishankar's visit and participation in both the Quad meeting and the anti-terrorism exhibition at the UN underscore India's dual focus on regional security in the Indo-Pacific and global efforts to counter terrorism, especially in the context of recent attacks and ongoing challenges posed by state-sponsored terror networks.
Based On ANI Report