Terror concerns could affect Indo-US ties, says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has indicated that India's concerns over terrorism will remain a factor in its ties with the US, stressing that New Delhi needs to know how its partners deal with countries linked to the issue.

Speaking after discussions on India-US trade and tariff-related differences, Jaishankar said terrorism was one of the main concerns for India because of attacks linked to a neighbouring country over several decades.

Flags terrorism as key concern

"What is particularly important for India is the issue of terrorism. We feel there are very few countries which have been subjected to the kind of terrorism that we have from a neighbour as part of a deliberate, conscious policy over many, many decades," he said as quoted by NDTV.

Also Read: ‘Serial practitioner of terrorism’: Jaishankar tears into Pakistan at UNGA

However, Jaishankar did not directly name Pakistan. His remarks came in the context of India's concerns over US engagement with Pakistan, including its past cooperation with Washington on security matters.

He reportedly said a lack of understanding of India's concerns could affect relations with a partner.

‘India's concerns may affect ties’

"Now, if something which matters so deeply to us, there isn't enough understanding or appreciation or empathy for that, I think that creates a problem too. If one of my primary concerns is not fully appreciated by my partner, then clearly there is an impact of that on the relationship to some extent," added Jaishankar.

"I think it's also impacted, influenced at least by what's happening within America," he said, referring to domestic developments in the US and their possible effect on its foreign policy.

Jaishankar expects India-US ties to improve

Jaishankar further stated that India expected its ties with Washington to improve, while acknowledging that disagreements remained.

"Yes, we would certainly hope for and expect the relationship to move on an upward trajectory, but I have to be real about the issues that we confront. And to the extent we are able to move ahead on some of the issues, I think we will have a better relationship," the Minister of External Affairs said.

Also Read: 'A terrorist nation is asking me that question': Jaishankar's strong reply to Pakistani journalist at UN

He said trade negotiations were among the issues affecting the relationship, adding that many other countries also faced difficulties in dealing with Washington. "Having said that, there are - at least for many countries, the bigger countries - there are very specific issues... In our case, one, of course, was the trade negotiation," he said.