“No Smooth Sailing All Time”: S Jaishankar On India’s Ties With Neighbours

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that India “should not anticipate everything going smoothly” consistently regarding its relations with neighboring countries. Nonetheless, he claimed that New Delhi has attempted to establish a “shared interest” to foster an intrinsic stability in relationships, regardless of the government.

At the end of the day, “the logic every one of our neighbours must realise” is that working with India will “give you benefits”, and not working with India “has a cost”, he said, without elaborating.

“Some take longer to realise, some understand it better. One exception of course is Pakistan, because it has defined its identity under the army, in a way it has an in-built hostility in it. So if you put Pakistan aside, the logic will apply everywhere else,” the minister said during an interactive session hosted on DD India.

Mr Jaishankar shared a link to the nearly hour-long interaction on his X handle on Saturday night.

In conversation with a strategic expert, he was also asked about the changes in stance of the US and China in the last 11 years, and how New Delhi looked at this change.

“Where the US is concerned, yes, there is unpredictability, therefore at a systemic level, you stabilise it with as many linkages and relationships as possible,” Mr Jaishankar said.

“With China, if you have to stand up to that country and we have had some very difficult period, so it’s important to prepare the capabilities,” he said.

The minister said one of the “really perplexing” aspects of India’s China policy was the “complete neglect of our border infrastructure in the previous decades”.

“To have a China policy and neglect your border infrastructure was absurd,” he argued.

“And, that is one of the things which has changed. We have today that standing up, in defence of our national interests, along the LAC. It is because we have built the border infrastructure to make that possible,” Mr Jaishankar said.

During the conversation, he spoke at length about deepening of ties with countries in India’s neighbourhood, and increase in reach out to the Gulf nations, in the last 11 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as also deepening of ties with the ASEAN and Indo-Pacific regions.

He (PM Modi) has “given us a goal” but also in many ways charted a path to get there, the minister said.

Mr. Jaishankar also referred to the current Operation Sindhu initiated by India to extract its citizens from conflict zones as military tensions between Israel and Iran escalated. Reflecting on Operation Ganga, he noted it was the “most complicated” as the evacuation occurred during wartime in Ukraine.  Regarding the volatility in India’s vicinity and regime shifts that appear to be against India’s interests, he stated, “there will be changes.”

Mr. Jaishankar highlighted the resilience of bilateral ties with Sri Lanka and the improved relations with Maldives following initial difficulties. He acknowledged challenges with Nepal’s internal politics while stressing the importance of thoughtful planning during tough times. On counter-terrorism, he cited the impact of the Mumbai attack as a turning point in India’s approach to Pakistan. He emphasized a holistic view of policies like the abrogation of Article 370, reflecting a shift towards a multipolar world.