WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — In a candid exchange with Diya TV’s Ravi Kapur, Dhruva Jaishankar, executive director of ORF America and son of India’s External Affairs Minister, unpacked the India-Pakistan conflict and the challenges of diplomacy in an unstable region.
Addressing the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Dhruva underscored its alarming scale — “the first time civilians had been targeted at this scale in almost 15 years” — and justified India’s military response as “proportional” and “targeted against known terrorist facilities.” He said, “Not responding would have essentially been a license that this is acceptable.”
Pakistan’s military escalation — including “very heavy shelling on the line of control” — has left India facing a persistent security challenge. “We’re in this situation which is worrisome at this point of time,” he said, while also acknowledging U.S. statements supporting India’s response as legitimate.
He took aim at Pakistan’s deep-rooted military control, describing it as an “infrastructure of training, equipping, financing and deploying these terrorist proxies against India.” Civilian leaders, he said, often have limited influence: “The army controls its own budget… there’s not the oversight that you see in most democracies.”
On Pakistan’s consistent denials and deflection, Jaishankar was unequivocal: “If your neighbor is an arsonist and your house keeps burning down… that responsibility falls on your neighbor.” He also dismissed calls for full-scale war, arguing instead for “a combination of positive and negative levers” to pressure Pakistan to abandon terror sponsorship.
He reflected on how India has offered positive incentives for decades — from most-favored nation trading status to regional cooperation — only to see Pakistan reject them. “India offered… and Pakistan did not reciprocate,” he said. As a result, India has focused on working with other regional partners and managing Pakistan’s provocations through diplomacy, trade, and security alliances.
Turning to U.S.-India ties, Jaishankar noted a “broad and well-developed relationship,” describing how Indian Americans have become “politically more active” and a critical bridge between the two countries. Despite past trade tensions, he voiced optimism about ongoing negotiations: “I’m actually reasonably optimistic that we will have a stabilization in tariffs between the U.S. and India, hopefully by September.”
As for his own future? “I don’t have any political ambitions,” he said, adding that while he respects India’s politicians, “I’m not sure I would want to burden myself with that.”
