India should deal with China on the basis of “realism” and bilateral relations should be based.
On mutual understandings in respect, sensitivity and interest, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said in an assessment of New Delhi’s approach to engage with Beijing.
Jaishankar lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his pragmatic approach towards China in an interview with ANI to mark the release of his new book “Why Bharat Matters”. He criticised the approach towards China during the tenure of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“I argue for dealing with China from a basis of realism – that strain of realism, which I feel strains all the way from [former home minister] Sardar [Vallabhbhai] Patel to Narendra Modi. That is the strain of realism which I feel should allow us to have a certain approach,” he said.
“I would say the Modi government has been very much more…in conformity with a strain of realism, which originated from Sardar Patel.”
Jaishankar’s remarks came against the backdrop of a military standoff between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that is set to enter its fourth year and has taken ties to an all-time low. India has insisted China should restore normalcy on the LAC in order to normalise the overall bilateral relationship.
Jaishankar highlighted the difference of opinion between India’s first home minister, Sardar Patel, and the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on China. “Even when it came…to the UN Security Council seat, it’s not my case that we should have necessarily taken the seat, it’s a different debate, but to say that we should first let China – China’s interest should come first, it’s a very peculiar statement to make,” he said, referring to the process for entry into the UN Security Council in past decades.
He added, “I pose the issue in this manner, if you look at the last 75 plus years of our foreign policy, they have a strain of realism about China and a strain of idealism, romanticism, non-realism. It begins right from day one, there is a sharp difference of opinion [on] how to respond to China between Nehru and Sardar Patel.”
Jaishankar dwelt on the “Chindia policy”, promoted by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh almost a decade ago to project the joint rise of China and India, and said, “The alternative strain, which starts from Nehru’s first [China] policy – first let China take the seat [at the UN Security Council], then we will see for India. From [this] first policy, it ends up as Chindia policy.”
India’s current engagement with China is less about making a pivot and more about constructing a relationship based on the three mutuals of respect, sensitivity and interest, and it will be very difficult for bilateral relations to progress if this mutuality is not recognised, he said.
“Today, part of our problem is [that] because in 2020, agreements were disregarded and the mutuality on which this whole relationship is predicated has not been followed, we have the situation. So, when you ask me where will it go, I would say a lot of it will depend on what is the Chinese policy,” he said.
The Indian side was eyeing a proposal to hold the Quad Summit on January 27 if Biden had agreed to be the chief guest at the Republic Day function. US Ambassador Eric Garcetti had said in September that Biden was invited to India for Republic Day by Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Following Biden’s decision, French President Emmanuel Macron will be the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations.
Jaishankar also criticised elements that talked about the slide of democracy indicators in India and said there is no need to take what appears in the foreign media at face value. He said one of the chapters in his new book refers to Modi feeling the need “for a new construct” after the BJP-led government came to power in 2014.
Asked about foreign media reports about an assertive India and sliding of democracy indicators, Jaishankar referred to the “democracy narrative” that is a “mind game”.
He said, “There are people who apparently feel more confident of their support outside India, and inside India, they get support from outside India. So, we have this constant barrage. We’ve had this from 2014, it increased up to 2019. I’m sure it will become very shrill as we lead up to the summer of 2024…”
He made it clear he wasn’t saying there is no room for improvement in India’s democracy. “I’m not saying we’re perfect…But I would say, please look at their motive and their agenda. They are not agenda-less, they are not motive-less, they are trying to push a certain line because they have a certain interest,” he said.
Jaishankar referred to the government’s initiatives to expand relations with countries in West Asia and said this was an area where Modi felt the need for a “new construct” after coming to power. India has an “extended zone” that includes Southeast Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. “You look at the Gulf, it is a region so near us, so many Indians living there, so much oil imported from there…yet politically very, very neglected,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) didn’t have a prime ministerial visit before Modi went there after a trip by former premier Indira Gandhi in 1981.
Describing India’s relations with Russia as “important and steady”, Jaishankar said these ties have proved beneficial. Responding to the Western media’s reaction to his visit to Russia and the camaraderie between Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jaishankar said, “I see no reason that people should take…what was happening other than at face value because we have always maintained that the Russia relationship is a very important one, very steady one.”
India has maintained a neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and backed dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the issue.
In response to another question on Canada’s allegation about the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Jaishankar said Canadian politics has given space to Khalistani forces and this is not in the interest of either country.
“The issue at heart is the fact that in Canadian politics, these Khalistani forces have been given a lot of space and have been allowed to indulge in activities which are damaging to the relationship, clearly not in India’s interest, and not in Canada’s interest either. But unfortunately, that is the state of their politics,” he said.
Jaishankar also noted that India has made “irrelevant” Pakistan’s policy of using cross-border terrorism to force a bilateral dialogue and said New Delhi will not deal with the neighbour on terms whereby “the practice of terrorism is deemed as legitimate”.
India is not unwilling to deal with Pakistan but has made it clear that Islamabad has to create an environment free of terror and hostility for this. Referring to the government’s approach towards Pakistan, he said India won’t tolerate cross-border terror.
“What Pakistan was trying to do, not now but over multiple decades, was really to use cross-border terrorism to bring India to the table. That, in essence, was its core policy. We have made that irrelevant by not playing that game now,” he said.
Jaishankar underscored the significance of India’s G20 presidency in the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, particularly amid polarisation on the Ukraine conflict and the concerns of the Global South. He said India brought everyone to the table at the G20, thanks to its relations with each country, amid speculation that the G20 members would fail to issue a joint statement.
“At the G20, not even 12 hours before the G20 declaration was finalised, there were people publicly predicting that we will fail…There was a North-South divide, there was the East-West polarisation, every country was pulling in a different direction and yet the fact was, eventually, we got everybody to come to the table and I accept when they all came to the table, they deserve the credit,” he said.
“The truth is they came to the table because everybody ultimately had relations with India. The other 19 countries said this matters for India, this is something which is right. The fact is everybody made a compromise and that is how it happened.”
Jaishankar also mentioned India’s growing stature at the global level and said in the past 10 years, the country has become more relevant and visible, and is “seen as influencing many more outcomes”.