‘If you keep snakes…’: S Jaishankar recalls Hillary Clinton's remarks to slam Pakistan at UNSC
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday reminded Pakistan about former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “snakes in the backyard" advice and said the world sees Islamabad as the “epicenter of terrorism".
FollowUnion External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the issue of terrorism in the neighbouring country Pakistan, remembering the famous saying by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about having a ‘snake’ in your backyard. While making a strong statement against Pakistan, EAM Jaishankar remembered a remark Hillary Clinton made about a snake during a previous visit to Pakistan, where she was discussing the urgent need to stop terrorism.
On Thursday, EAM S Jaishankar addressed the media at the UN headquarters and remembered US President Hillary Clinton's direct warning to India's neighbour that keeping snakes in one's lawn will eventually result in a bite. Jaishankar was responding to a question on Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar's recent allegation that "no country had used terrorism better than India".
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Clinton while speaking at a joint news conference in 2011 with then Pakistan Foreign Minister Khar, had said: "You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours."
The union foreign minister further said, “I was reminded, more than a decade ago, my memory serves me right. Hillary Clinton was visiting Pakistan. And Hina Rabbani Khar was a minister at that time.”
Jaishankar responded well when asked about Pakistan and its obvious connections to terrorism, saying, "Standing next to her, Hillary Clinton really acknowledged that if you have... Snakes in your garden, you can't expect them to bite only your neighbours. Eventually, they will bite the people who keep them in the backyard. But as you know, Pakistan is not great at taking good advice.”
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He said that Pakistan should clean up its act and try to be a good neighbour as he asserted the world sees Pakistan as the "epicentre" of terrorism. He further said that the world is not “stupid” and is increasingly calling out countries, organisations and people who indulge in terrorism.
