External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday countered the opposition’s questioning of India’s foreign policy, stressing that New Delhi was not playing to the gallery on the global stage and was committed to protecting its self-interests.
Jaishankar, speaking at the 2024 CNN-News18’s Rising Bharat Summit, reiterated that foreign policy was not a global publicity exercise.
“What does the opposition want us to do? Get around with those I disagree with and raise petrol prices? Foreign policy is not a global publicity exercise,” Jaishankar said, in a possible reference to some Western institutions and nations who criticised India for cheaper energy imports from Russia amid the Ukraine war.
He also referred to the ties with Pakistan and addressed critics who say the situation has not improved.
“What does the opposition want (us to do with Pakistan)? Relations are minimal because we put terrorism at the centre of the ties, because the Pakistanis reacted to Article 370,” he said, referring to an August 2019 move that ended the special status of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state and split it into two Union Territories.
Islamabad has opposed New Delhi’s Article 370 move time and again, raising the issue — though without much success– at world bodies.
He wondered whether the opposition wanted India not to go ahead with the Article 370 move because Pakistan had objections.
“If you have an appeasement policy at home. You are bound to take it outside,” Jaishankar said.
He also questioned the opposition for raking up the China issue and said India has been facing a threat of two-front conflict since its independence from British rule.
“We have always been in a two-front (situation). At which stage did you feel that China was a strategic partner? But in 2006 they were described as so…You have had the two of them working in tandem,” Jaishankar said.
He also said the opposition should take “history” and “geography” lessons, and said former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not pay adequate attention to Pakistan and China even though Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel shared their concerns with him in the years after Independence leading up to the 1962 war.
“We alienated the US on behalf of China. In the 1950s, we spoiled India-US ties because of China. You have a concept called Chindia, many of you remember who coined that term,” Jaishankar added.
Comments
0 comment