New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today spoke about ‘The India Century’. During the interaction Mr Jaishankar gave a detailed overview on India’s foreign policy and how it is playing an increasingly global role.
Mr Jaishankar discussed the entire gamut of ties – from the US and China to Russia and India’s neighbourhood. He even spoke a few lines about Pakistan.
When asked about the Russia relationship, the foreign minister made it absolutely clear that India’s relationship with Russia is time-tested and among the most important. Explaining his point he said, “I’ll put it to you very simply. If you look at our history with the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia since Independence in 1947, I can say with confidence and knowing that nobody in this room can contradict it, that Russia has never done anything to impact India’s interest negatively,” adding that in geopolitics, “that is a big statement to make because there are not many major countries in the world for whom such a statement can be made.”
He further told that “Today, Russia’s situation is different and Russia’s relationship with the West has broken down. We now have a Russia which is turning much more towards Asia (than Europe and the West), so we must ask ourselves that if Russia is looking more at Asia, should Russia not have multiple options in Asia? And as an Asian country, should we (India) not do in Asia that which is in our national interest?”
“Clearly, Russia as a major natural resources power has a complementarity with India at this stage of development when we are big resource consumers. People talk about Russian oil, but it isn;t just about oil. It could be about fertilizers, metal, coal, etc. So, there is a big economic logic to it as well,” Mr Jaishankar added.
Mr Jaishankar went on to say that besides an economic relationship, there is also a strategic one. He explained that “There is a basic strategic logic – that if you look at the Eurasian landmass, there are 3 big countries (Russia, China and India). It is a one-o-one in international relations, that a country will always maintain the balance in relationship with the country which is your immediate neighbour’s neighbour – and do so in very good stead.”
“So, there is a strategic logic, there is an economic fit, and the relationship overall has had a very positive history, so that is how it is viewed,” Mr Jaishankar reiterated.
BREAKTHROUGH WITH CHINA
Mr Jaishankar today added to what India’s foreign secretary said earlier in the day about a “positive outcome” emerging from the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control, saying Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border face-off began in May 2020.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced India and China have arrived on a patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas, and it can lead to disengagement and resolution of tension.
“We reached an agreement on patrolling, and we have gone back to the 2020 position. With that we can say the disengagement with China has been completed. Details will come out in due course,” Mr Jaishankar told.
“There are areas which for various reasons after 2020, they blocked us, we blocked them. We have now reached an understanding which will allow patrolling as we had been doing till 2020,” Mr Jaishankar explained.
The breakthrough came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia to attend the BRICS summit tomorrow.
INDIA’S NEIGHBOURHOOD FIRST POLICY
Speaking about how India’s highest priority has always been about fostering good relations with its neighbours, Mr Jaishanakr emphasised that New Delhi has always played a positive and friendly part towards its neighbours.
Citing the examples of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and even Maldives and Bangladesh, the foreign minister gave examples of how India has always tried to build a neighbourhood of cooperation and camaraderie.
Explaining this, Mr Jaishankar said “Our neighbourhood is democratic which means that political changes will keep on happening. We will often be the subject of their politics. We have to factor in that in our policies. If we can create a record of being a country which is a reliable friend in any trouble, if they understand that there’s this country India which is generous, which is large, if we create that record and which I feel we have. During Sri Lanka crisis, we stepped up. Today in Sri Lanka, we have seen a very big change,” said S Jaishankar.
“Bhutan had the wisdom to collaborate on electricity. This is a lesson which everyone should learn,” he said praising the country.
THE ‘JUSTIN TRUDEAU’ PROBLEM
Speaking about ties with Canada, Mr Jaishankar said the Justin Trudeau government seems to have a problem with Indian diplomats trying to find out about what is happening there in relation to India.
Highlighting the Trudeau government’s “double standards” and stressing that saying so is an understatement, Mr Jaishankar said they seem to have different standards for how they behave domestically and how they behave globally.
“Canada has asked us to subject our High Commissioner to a police inquiry and we chose to withdraw our High Commissioner… They seem to have a problem with our diplomats trying to find out about what is happening in Canada which directly pertain to their welfare and security,” he said.
On the other hand, the license they give themselves is “totally different from the restrictions they impose on diplomats in Canada,” he said. “Canadian diplomats have no problem going around on our military or our police, profiling people, targeting people to be stopped in Canada,” he added.
“When we tell them that you have people openly threatening Indian leaders and diplomats, their response is freedom of speech… If you threaten the Indian High Commissioner, he is supposed to accept it as freedom of speech but if an Indian journalist says the Canadian High Commissioner walked out of the South Block looking very grumpy, it is apparently foreign interference,” he added.
VISIT TO PAKISTAN
Towards the end of his interaction, Mr Jaishankar spoke a line about Pakistan. “India is a good SCO member. We were very supportive of Pakistan’s presidency this year and wanted the proceeding to be smooth. Haath milaya aur aa gaye wapis (shook hands and came back),” he said summing up his visit to Islamabad.
