India slams double standard on terrorism

India decried double standard on terrorism and asked the western countries not to lecture it on the issue of freedom of speech and expression.

Union minister for external affairs S. Jaishankar told reporters in Washington that freedom of speech could not be extended to incite violence.

Jaishankar said, "…I flagged here (in US), and I flagged this to the Canadians as well. We are a democracy. We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about, but we can tell people this…we don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom, that's not defence of freedom".

He further posed a question, asking how other countries would react if they were in India's position, with their diplomats, embassies, and citizens facing intimidation.

"How would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassy, your people, what would be your reaction?" he added.

On being asked about Indian concerns regarding the attack on Indian consulate in San Francisco in July this year, the EAM said that the issue was raised during his visit to the US and described it as an ongoing discussion.

"Yes, of course we raised, it. What is the status…it's an ongoing conversation...Yes, I did spend some time on it...Yes, we discussed other things...Our relationship has many dimensions, many areas of cooperation. When we look at the world, there are areas we have convergences, and intersections of interest where we work very closely together, we are doing all of that," Mr. Jaishankar said.

He added, "Look, I want to be fair. If something is discussed, I am transparent about it. I have no problem saying yes, we discussed it. I don't want you to think that in the India-US relationship, there is only one issue. I would say yes, it's an ongoing conversation".