Europe's Hypocrisy? EU Diplomat Kaja Kallas Loud on Ukraine, 'Mute' On Pahalgam Terror Attack

The European Union's (EU) top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, is facing backlash on social media, with experts also calling out her 'double standards' after she shared a post on X urging both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint. What drew attention was that nowhere in her post was the mention of the ghastly terror attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 people lost their lives.

"Rising tensions between India and Pakistan are alarming. I urge both sides to show restraint and pursue dialogue to ease the situation. Escalation helps no one. I spoke to both @DrSJaishankar and @MIshaqDar50 today to convey these messages," her post read.

On Friday, amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the deadly terror attack in J&K, Kaja Kallas held separate calls with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

The EU diplomat's response on the matter sparked off a debate on Europe's "hypocrisy" when it comes to their own interest, as was evident in Kallas's response on the Ukraine war. The "standard" remark on such a horrific terror act in J&K did not sit well with netizens and experts alike.

Foreign policy experts and several social media users were quick to call out Kaja Kallas's double standards, resurfacing her past statements on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - where she asserted that “defence is not provocation” and stressed the need to “stop the aggressor.”

"I hope Europe learnt that appeasement only strengthens the aggressor. The aggressor will never stop unless he is stopped," Kallas post read while calling for action against Russia.

She had also defended Europe's military support to Ukraine, saying, "Defence is not provocation".

"Fear of escalation creates self-deterrence. As a result, some argue that helping Ukraine defend itself from aggression means to escalate. Defence is not provocation," she had said.

Responding to Kallas's post, Dr Sumeet Shah, Director - Metabolic & Bariartric Surgery, PSRI Hospital, wrote. "Waging a War with Russia which has threatened the peace and stability of the entire world and is now preaching to others. How many European countries have been directly attacked by Russia?"

"FM S Jaishankar, articulated the European hypocrisy perfectly when he said that "Europe needs to get out of the mindset that its problems are the world's problems and but the world's problems are not Europe's problems" he further added.

Sushant Sareen, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), remarked that the statement reflected the EU's lack of understanding of regional dynamics, noting that “dialogue and diplomacy” have done little to deter the persistent cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

"If you had any knowledge, you would know dialogue and diplomacy has been done to death (the death of Indians at the hands of Islamist Pakistani terrorists) and you have blithely turned a blind eye to the shenanigans of the Islamic State of Pakistan. Please do tell us what dialogue and diplomacy has achieved so far?" Sushant Sareen tweeted.

Some also recalled Jaishankar’s sharp 2022 remark, made as Europe urged India to take a harder stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

"S Jaishankar was right that Europe thinks that their problems are world's problems but other world's problems are not their," a user on X reminded.

"Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems," he said at a conference in Bratislava.

His comments came amid subtle signals from European nations suggesting that India's neutral position on Ukraine might affect international backing if tensions with China were to escalate.

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