00:00There is no equivalent between a state that dispatches terrorists and a state that repels them.
00:06There is no equivalence between a state from which attacks are conducted and a state that is exercising its right of self-defense.
00:12We never needed persuading to stop.
00:15If there was any pressure from American President Trump, that pressure would have only been on Pakistan.
00:20It would only have been on General Munir.
00:30Look, I have not seen the outcome after the meeting.
00:35I understood that apparently, according to the White House, this general had said that the president should get the Nobel Peace Prize and so on.
00:46And he was rewarded with a lunch.
00:48I'm very pleased that I hope the food was good and that he has also got some food for thought in the process.
00:54I would hope that in these interactions with the Americans, that they would also remind Pakistan of the great importance of not supporting terrorism,
01:04of not providing a safe haven to terrorists, of not enabling, guiding, training, arming, financing, equipping and dispatching terrorists to our country from their soil.
01:17This is something which some of the American senators and congressmen who met the Pakistani delegation that was there at the same time that my delegation was there did do.
01:30They did tell Pakistan all of this.
01:32And it is our hope that everyone in the U.S. government will do this.
01:35They could not have forgotten the episode of Osama bin Laden so quickly.
01:40Osama bin Laden killed over 2,000 people in the 9-11 attacks.
01:45And he did so on American soil.
01:46He destroyed two iconic American buildings, large numbers of American citizens and those of many other nationalities lost their lives.
01:54So in those circumstances, Pakistan's culpability in hiding this man until he was finally found in an army, in a safe house near an army camp in a cantonment city,
02:07that is something that could not be that easily forgotten and forgiven by the Americans.
02:11So I hope that while the general was being wined and dined or lunched and munched, I don't know, at the same time that he would have got these so firm messages,
02:20because that would also be in America's interest.
02:23Sir, your delegation met the vice president.
02:27But the general now meeting the president himself.
02:31So there is an allegation from the Congress that our diplomatic relations or our foreign relations are not that good.
02:38That's why it has come to such a situation.
02:40How do you see this?
02:41No, I mean, there's absolutely no doubt that our prime minister had already met the president first.
02:46For us, for a parliamentary delegation to be received by the vice president is itself a significant honor,
02:53because in some countries, parliamentary delegations only are met by other parliamentarian members,
02:58or members, in this case, of the U.S. Congress and Senate.
03:01We met them also, but we certainly had the privilege of seeing both the vice president and the deputy secretary of state.
03:08And in both cases, we gave exactly the message that you have heard the prime minister now giving to the president.
03:15So not only was this message already received from our delegation,
03:20but it was received and accepted without any demurred disagreement or argument
03:25by the vice president and by the deputy secretary of state.
03:29They fully understood exactly where we were coming from.
03:33You know, the question about mediation is something that I have answered to all of you in the past.
03:38Mediation implies equivalence, and there is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims.
03:43There is no equivalent between a state that dispatches terrorists and a state that repels them.
03:49There is no equivalence between a state from which attacks are conducted
03:53and a state that is exercising its right of self-defense.
03:56And where there is no equivalence, there can be no mediation.
03:58The question is academic.
04:01Furthermore, in the case of Operation Sindur, from day one,
04:05India had made it very clear that this was a strike of retribution against terrorists.
04:12At no stage did India ever imply it was the opening salvo of a protracted war.
04:18On the contrary, we made it clear that if Pakistan chose to respond,
04:24only then would be further responded.
04:25If Pakistan stopped, we would stop.
04:27This message was given not just to Pakistan, but to the world.
04:32If you watch the daily briefings of the Indian government and the armed forces,
04:36during Operation Sindur, the message was clear.
04:39So we never needed persuading to stop.
04:42If there was any pressure from American President Trump,
04:45that pressure would have only been on Pakistan.
04:48It would only have been on General Munir.
04:49So maybe that's why he needs to thank.
04:52It's not on us.
04:53And I think that is something that we must all understand.
04:57We welcome any pressure the Americans may have put on Pakistan, but we did not ask for it.
05:02We did not request anyone's mediation.
05:04What we have done is, we have said, our intention is this.
05:08Terrorists have attacked our country.
05:10We are tired of just only dealing with them on our soil.
05:12We are now going to deal with them where they are based.
05:15And we are going to hit their bases.
05:16If Pakistan wants to rise in defense of terrorists and hit us, we will hit them back.
05:21If Pakistan stops, we will stop.
05:23Every single day, this was our message.
05:25Pakistan offered to stop, we stopped.
05:28I don't see any issue there of requiring mediation or requiring pressure on us.
05:33And when we explained this in our meetings, it was fully understood.
05:38Absolutely fully understood.
05:40And I can assure you that what the Prime Minister is now reported to have said
05:44is the message that we ourselves have given.
05:47I personally spoke to the Vice President in the meeting.
05:51We have been very diplomatic and correct in not saying all this publicly,
05:55but now today I can reveal it.
05:57It is something that we have already conveyed.
05:58And there is no doubt at any level of the US administration
