External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong during a meeting, in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong called on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday.

The meeting comes days after a U.S. Congressional delegation met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamshala and called for “self-determination” for Tibetans.

“We exchanged views on China-India relations and other issues of common interest. Thanks for his best wishes. Look forward to working with the Indian side to push forward the development of China-India relations towards the right direction,” Mr. Xu said after the meeting. 

Mr. Jaishankar also met a number of other envoys, including High Commissioner of Sri Lanka Kshenuka D. Senewiratne and High Commissioner of New Zealand Patrick John Rata.

He also sent out a message on the meeting with the Chinese envoy, saying, “Discussed our bilateral relationship and our common interest in its stabilisation and progress.”

Also Read | After friction, Chinese Premier Li Qiang greets PM Modi for third term

Mr. Jaishankar hosted the U.S. Congressional delegation last week at the Hyderabad House hours after they spoke in support of Tibetans’s right to “self-determination”.

The Congressional delegation, led by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul and ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had also called upon China to avoid interfering in the process of finding a successor to the Dalai Lama.

The U.S. lawmakers also met Mr. Modi during their stay. The statements from the U.S. lawmakers had drawn a strong verbal response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, which declared that Beijing would take “resolute measures” to firmly defend its territorial sovereignty.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar speaks during the release of the Bangla translation of his book ‘Why Bharat Matters’, in Kolkata, Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on May 14 said that the deployment of forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is “abnormal” and the security of the country should not be disregarded.

Speaking at an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Mr. Jaishankar said India responded to the Galwan clash by counter-deployment of forces there.

“After 1962, Rajiv Gandhi went to China in 1988 in many ways that were the key step towards normalising the ties (with China)…there was a clear understanding that we will discuss our boundary differences but we will maintain peace and tranquillity on the border. And the rest of the relationship will carry on,” the minister said.

Since then, it has been the basis of the relationship with China, he said.

“What changed now is what happened in 2020. In 2020, the Chinese, in violation of multiple agreements, brought a large number of forces to our border and they did it at the time when we were under COVID lockdown,” he said.

A total of 20 Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley clash, regarded as the worst in over four decades at the India-China border.

Also Read | The Hindu Explains | Who does Galwan Valley belong to?

Mr. Jaishankar said “India responded by counter deployment of forces” and for four years now, forces have been deployed ahead of the normal base positions at Galwan.

“This is a very abnormal deployment along the LAC. Given the tension between the two countries… As Indian citizens, none of us should disregard the security of the country…it is today a challenge”, he said.

There is also an economic challenge, he said, which is due to “neglect of the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors in the previous years”.

“Why is Indian business buying so much from China… is it good to be dependent on some other source?” he asked.

Mr. Jaishankar said there is a big economic security debate in the world.

“Countries feel today that many core businesses must stay within the country. The supply chain should be shorter and reliable… In the sensitive sectors, we will be careful… There is a national security obligation,” he said.

Relations with Russia

Regarding Russia, the external affairs minister said that India’s relations with Russia had been positive.

There is also an economic factor as Russia is endowed with natural resources such as oil, coal and metals of various kinds that India can obtain, Mr. Jaishankar said.

Also Read | Old and strong: On India-Russia ties 

Proper focus was not given to the manufacturing and infrastructure sector earlier, and the erstwhile license and permit Raj had created hostility to growth, he said.

“Many states including this one (West Bengal), there had been a culture of hostility to growth while job creation has become a challenge,” Jaishankar said.

Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir

At another event in the city later, the union minister said that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir had always been an integral part of India.

“I have no doubt in mind that someone living in POK is comparing his situation with someone living in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Mr. Jaishankar said Article 370 which fuelled violence and separatism should never have been continued.

On various conflicts such as Ukraine-Russia war, Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israel-Iran problem and South China sea issue, he said the world is a tough place but India is performing its role adroitly and is seen with respect by other countries.

“No country today is dominant enough… This is a transition period with old order running out of gas but the new order has not come,” Mr. Jaishakar said.

The diplomat-turned-minister said countries are keeping a watch to see who will be the new world player and “lots of attention are now on us.” “Most of the world is struggling with economic crisis. Their growth rate has fallen against this backdrop and the world sees a large economy notching up seven per cent growth even after Covid had dealt such a blow to other economies,” he said.

Asked about demographic changes in some states due to trans-border migration, he said “the basic obligation of a state is to protect its borders.

Leaving the borders unguarded, open for people to come is incompetence. We allowed things to happen for which the consequences are serious. When we rectify through good governance, there should not be any opposition from any side,” he commented without naming anyone.

Regarding dependence of Indian students on foreign universities, Mr. Jaishankar said, the focus should be on skills and employability to retain the flow in the country.

In a jibe at a section of the Western media and countries, he said they are yet to come out of the 300 years of berating India but “we must not be taught by countries who go to court to decide elections.”

Without naming anyone, he said people inside the country should not join the refrain of foreign critics and badmouth India outside, he said “we are a country which knows how to keep our arguments within ourselves till votes are counted. Please don’t denigrate the country outside.”

The minister said due to India’s good diplomatic relations with countries like U.S., during the Covid period “we could manage to fight the pandemic as we provided the U.S. with the much-needed tablet which proved effective in fighting the virus and we could successfully prepare vaccines and PPE kits and even these were sought by other countries.”

The minister said that due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomatic initiative with Russia, people stuck in Ukraine could be rescued while many Western countries could not.

New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday defended the implementation of Agniveer Scheme in India which abruptly halted the recruitment of military personnel from Nepal and said that New Delhi will reform its policies prioritizing Indian interest, and “an Indian decision cannot be made because somebody else’s interest is at stake.”

“Why did we do Agniveer? We did it for ourselves. We will reform our armed forces, obviously with Indian interests in mind,” EAM Jaishankar said while interacting with students at a session on “Vishwa Bandhu Bharat” at Gargi College in New Delhi.

“Any reform, I’m not talking now, Agniveer, an Indian decision cannot be made because somebody else’s interest is at stake. India will decide on what is India’s interest,” he added.

The Union Cabinet on 14th June 2022 approved an attractive recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces called AGNIPATH and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. AGNIPATH allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for a period of four years.

After it was implemented in September 2022, the scheme stopped or abruptly halted recruitment from Nepal.

EAM Jaishankar also addressed India’s diplomatic row with Maldives and asserted that governments may have different viewpoints but the neighbour countries cannot move away from each other.

“They (Maldives) have their politics. Sometimes you have a government that may have a viewpoint about India, but at the end of the day, we tell them saying, look, we are all neighbours. We can’t move away from each other,” EAM said.

“Example that somebody can give you, I can give you a reverse example, say, in Nepal, you know, for years, Nepal has a tremendous power, ability to generate electricity. We are logical customers, but for political reasons, they never did it. Now they are willing to do it in Sri Lanka, as I said, Sri Lankans know actually who really helped them out. If you go to Bangladesh today, the thinking about India has changed fundamentally,” he asserted India’s strengthening relations with its neighbours.

His remarks came as Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer departed from Male to pay an official visit to India amid strained ties triggered after Maldives asked India to replace its military personnel from the island nation.

Meanwhile, India has said that it will replace its military personnel from Maldives before May 10.

On May 3, India and Maldives held the 4th meeting of the bilateral High-Level Core Group and reviewed the replacement of Indian military personnel from the Island nation by May 10 and noted that the government will replace military personnel before the noted time. Earlier, the Mohamed Muizzu-led Maldives government formally requested that India withdraw its troops from Male.

Earlier, addressing the controversy surrounding Nepal’s depiction of certain Indian territories on its currency notes, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar highlighted the complexities of managing relationships with neighbouring countries.

S Jaishankar acknowledged that dealing with neighbouring nations often involves navigating political intricacies.

“Sometimes, dealing with our neighbours involves navigating a bit of politics. It’s about balancing our interests with theirs,” said EAM Jaishankar during a press interaction here on Sunday.

He also cautioned that there might not be positivity towards India among all its neighbours, citing instances where unfavourable opinions have been voiced. “If you visit places like Sri Lanka, you might hear some unfavourable opinions from government officials or individuals,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Seoul:

Highlighting India’s unprecedented reputation at the international level, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that the people leaving India to explore global work opportunities now have confidence in the present government that the regime would take care of them even when they are abroad.

“You can see, today, an Indian leaving the shores of India, does so with a confidence which they didn’t have before. They have the confidence that whatever happens out there, there is a government that will look after them. That’s a very big feeling because when we look at the state of the world, more and more Indians will explore global work opportunities,” EAM said.

He also underscored the significant contribution of Indian community for strengthening New Delhi relations with other countries and said that the country is in the right path and doing right thing.

“There will be students going abroad. There will be people, you know, blue collar workers. There will be professionals. There will be, you know, people whose talents will be sought by companies across the world. So we have to give them that confidence. And we have shown in 10 years today,” he said.

“But those who live abroad also know, you know, that there are, that in many ways your hearts and minds are, a large part of it is always in India. So I know, you know, that all of you in different ways, contribute to the progress of our country. What is happening at home, the choices we make, the progress we make is very much in your minds. So I want today to both appreciate you as well as share with you that sense of confidence. I think that we are today on the right path, with the right leadership, doing the right thing, going up in the world,” he added.

Earlier, in his address at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy on ‘Broadening horizons: India-Korea Partnership in the Indo-Pacific’, Jaishankar stressed that it is time for two nations to introspect and strategise how the two countries could be doing more by making efforts differently.

EAM who is on a visit to South Korea said that ties between India and South Korea has expanded in different sectors and the benefits are visible to both nations. He said that India’s partnership with South Korea is acquiring “great salience” in a “more uncertain and volatile world.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Canada had seen significant amounts of “organised crime relating to secessionist forces. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In the latest round of sparring between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last June, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the government had told the Canadian Government that it was not its “policy“ to engage in such acts.

He also said that Canada had a “very permissive” environment as far as secessionist activity was concerned.

“We told the Canadians that this is not the Government of India’s policy,” Mr. Jaishankar said about the allegations of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s death. The Canadians were also told that if they had specific information, the government “was open to looking at it”, as per the Minister. 

Also Read | U.S. calls for ‘full and fair investigation’ into Canada’s allegations against India

Mr. Jaishankar was speaking at an event at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York, moderated by former U.S. Ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster.

Canada has a ‘very permissive’ environment: Jaishankar  

Seeking to provide context to the situation, Mr. Jaishankar said Canada had seen significant amounts of “organised crime relating to secessionist forces [i.e., supporters of India-related secessionist movements, such as the cause of Khalistan]”. 

“We have actually been badgering the Canadians,” he said. “We have given them a lot of information about organised crime leadership, which operates out of Canada.”  

The Minister said India had made several extradition requests of Canada. 

“Our concern is that it’s really been very permissive because of political reasons,” Mr. Jaishankar said, adding that India’s diplomats have been threatened and its consulates attacked.

Also Read | Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing | No specific information shared by Canada, says India

He said there was interference in India’s politics, often justified on grounds of democracy.  

Canada and India have exchanged diplomatic fire over the past week, requiring each other to downsize their missions and exchanging words. Canadian Government officials, had, even as recently as Tuesday, said they were concerned about foreign interference in Canada’s politics. 

Asked for a comment on the reported sharing of intelligence between Five Eyes countries on Nijjar’s killing and reports that the FBI had warned certain persons about threats to their lives after the incident, Mr. Jaishankar said, “I’m not part of the Five Eyes.“

“I’m certainly not part of the FBI,” he added.

When asked if he was provided with evidence by the Canadian Government, specifically evidence of intercepted communications (i.e., allegedly linking Indian Government agents to Nijjar’s killing), Mr. Jaishankar did not clearly confirm or deny whether he had seen the documents.  

“Are you asking if the Canadians gave us documents?” he said. 

When asked again if the Canadians had given him [i.e., the government] a document regarding India’s intercepted diplomatic communications, he said, “I have said that if somebody gives us specific or relevant information, we’re prepared to look at it.”

Mr. Jaishankar was again pressed on whether he had received the evidence of purported intercepted communications.

“If I had, would I not be looking at it?” he said.

He was pressed further for a “yes” or “no” at which point the Mr. Juster intervened.

New Delhi:

There are strong links between jobs creation, infrastructure growth and ensuring private capital from abroad can easily access manufacturing opportunities in the domestic market, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar explained Tuesday in an exclusive interview with NDTV.

He said it the government had to build infrastructure and frame policies that make it easy for investors to invest in or run businesses in India, and then took a veiled dig at the opposition, referring to “people blocking infrastructure… business” and accusing them of “blocking employment in this country”.

“From ’14 (when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power) we have started to rectify policies that made it hard to not just manufacture in this country, but also employ in this country,” Mr Jaishankar responded to a question on making India a more appealing destination for foreign investment.

“… if you were to ask me, ‘Have we done a lot in the last 10 years?’, my answer would be ‘Yes.’ Do we have to do a lot more in the next 10? My answer would be ‘Yes.’ I think there were real mistakes and shortcomings on our part…”

“You know… people often put this in terms of ‘business’. I also put it to you… to me ‘business’ and ’employment’ are two sides of the same coin. The people who are blocking infrastructure… people blocking business… are also people blocking employment.”

Mr Jaishankar stressed on the need to surmount these challenges and said, “Today, I would say, this is how we become more competitive… how we create, bring in jobs” and highlighted the Prime Minister’s June visit to the United States, during which a semiconductor manufacturing firm said it would set up an $825 million plant in Gujarat.

Micron Technology, Inc. said construction of the facility in Gujarat – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state – will begin this year and the first phase will be operational in late-2024.

The goal, Mr Jaishankar told NDTV, is to make India “the place we (foreign companies) are going to go and put up (manufacturing business)… this is what this is all about.”