External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is currently in Germany as part of his three-nation Europe visit, said on Friday said India has zero-tolerance for terrorism and New Delhi will never give in to nuclear blackmail. India will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally and there should be no confusion in any quarter in that regard, he said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul.
The two MEAs held talks in Berlin following which Wadephul condemned the Pahalgam attack and supported India's right to defend itself against terrorism, news agency PTI said quoting sources. Wadephul also advocated a bilateral solution between India and Pakistan, it said.
"I came to Berlin in the immediate aftermath of India responding to the Pahalgam terror attack. Let me share with you what I conveyed to Mr Wadephul in that context. India has zero-tolerance for terrorism. India will never give in to nuclear blackmail," he said.
Jaishankar also said India values Germany's understanding that every nation has a right to defend itself against terrorism.
India has launched a diplomatic outreach as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a new normal when New Delhi will consider any act of cross-border terrorism as an act of war against India.
The two foreign ministers also emphasised 25 years of the Strategic Partnership between India and Germany.
Wadephul said the relations are more diverse and Germany wants to deepen our ties while Jaishankar said that in recent years, our cooperation acquired many more facets, and gained much stronger momentum.
The MEA said India deeply values Germany's crucial and invaluable role in shaping our larger relationship with the EU.
Observing that Germany has been one of the most consistent and powerful supporters of rapidly doing a free trade agreement, Jaishankar said, he is confident that if the two countries can meet the goal of FTA this year, there will be many more doors that will be opened to businesses on both sides.
German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann in New Delhi on April 2 had said that time is high, time is good to develop the EU-India free trade agreement.