New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar speaks during the launch of former diplomat Rajiv Sikri’s book ‘Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy’, in New Delhi on Friday, August 30, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday spoke candidly about India’s relationship with its neighbour Pakistan.
Speaking at the launch of Ambassador Rajiv Sikri’s new book, “Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy”, the External Affairs Minister said the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan “is over”.
“I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. And as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think Article 370 no longer exists. So, the question today is what kind of relationship we can contemplate with Pakistan.” Rajiv [Sikri] suggests [in his book] “Maybe India is happy to continue with the current level of relationship. Maybe it is, maybe it is not… We are not passive. And whether events take a positive or negative direction, either way, we will react to it,” S. Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar said there are strong ties between the people of Afghanistan and his country.
“As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there are strong people-to-people relations. In fact, at the social level, there is some goodwill towards India. But when we look at Afghanistan, I think we should not forget the basic principles of statecraft. International relations are at stake here. So, when we review our Afghan policy today, I think we are very clear about our interests. We are not confused by the ‘inherited wisdom’ that is before us,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said that Afghanistan with the presence of US forces is very different from Afghanistan without the presence of the United States.
“We must appreciate that Afghanistan with the US presence for us is very different from Afghanistan without the US presence,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar said India has to find ground of mutual interest with Bangladesh and India will deal with “the government of the day”.
“Since Bangladesh’s independence, our relationship has had its ups and downs and it is natural that we deal with the government in power, but we also have to recognise that there are political changes that can be disruptive and clearly, in this regard, we have to look for reciprocity of interests,” Jaishankar said.
Speaking about Myanmar, Jaishankar said the context of the Northeast is paramount.
“Further east, there is Myanmar, which is a relevant and remote place at the same time. And here, again, I think the northeast, the context of the Northeast or the Northeast is the most important. And we have to find a balance between the government and other stakeholders, because that is the reality,” he said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 30, 2024 | 1:36 PM IS
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