Should change idea that India shouldn’t interfere in global issues: Jaishankar

Happy to visit the Zen Garden and Kaizen Academy at AMA in Ahmedabad.

Inaugurated by PM @narendramodi last year, it is a fitting tribute to the close friendship between India and Japan. pic.twitter.com/IYE9llDYWf

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 4, 2022

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“If some problem arises in the world, we should not interfere in it. This too is a sort of a dogma. Maybe in 1950-60, we did not have capability. We had our own interests. But now, just a few days back, we have reached number five in the world in economy. The thinking of an entity which is at number 20 and the one who is at number five cannot be the same,” Jaishankar said at the event.

“The change as per our capabilities and the expression of confidence is not there because the old habits keep us tied up…Our challenge is if the world will define us or we will define ourselves,” he added.

The function was jointly organised by Bharatiya Vichar Manch, Foundation for Public Awareness and Policy and R R Sheth & Company at Ahmedabad Management Association here in Ahmedabad.

The EAM also talked about a particular chapter in his book which said it is time for India “to engage America, manage China, cultivate Europe, reassure Russia, bring Japan into play, draw neighbours in, extend the neighbourhood and expand the traditional constituencies of support. As the world is changing we need to change, old prejudices will not work.”

Delivering his lecture on the book, Jaishankar stated that there was a specific concept about foreign policy in Delhi which can be called dogma and which was challenged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he took oath as the PM for the first time in 2014 by inviting heads of various neighbouring countries.

“There is a specific thinking, concept or nature in Delhi on how to deal with the world. How to change it?” Jaishankar said.

On change about India’s foreign policy, Jaishankar laid special emphasis on considering and acknowledging Japan’s importance in the world. He also laid emphasis on changing our mindset and expanding our limits while considering India’s maritime interests.

“So far, whenever we think about oceans, we think about the Indian ocean. It is our limitation that whenever we think of maritime interest, we talk about the Indian ocean. Currently, if you see, more than 50% of our trade is going towards the East, in the Pacific ocean. The line bifurcating the Indian ocean and Pacific ocean is there somewhere on a map or on an atlas; there is nothing like that in reality,” Jaishankar said.

“In a way, we should cross the historic border. Our interests have expanded now. Indo-Pacific is, in a way, a new strategic concept in the world.”

Jaishanker referred to a paragraph in his book, where he compared India’s foreign policy as similar to “The policy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas.”

“We have reached a level where to move forward our interests, we need to have relations with all as far as we can,” he added.

The EAM made special mention of a chapter in his book in which he has talked about Mahabharat in the context of foreign policy. Adding that there are similarities between Mahabharat and the current situation of the world.

मेरी पुस्तक:भारत की रणनीति का गुजराती अनुवाद लॉन्च करते हुए ख़ुशी हुई।

प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi द्वारा समर्थित भारतीय विदेश नीति के लोकतंत्रीकरण ने देश भर में विदेशी मामलों में अधिक रुचि उत्पन्न की है।

विश्वास है कि यह प्रवृत्ति भविष्य में और बढ़ेगी।
📹https://t.co/o79WTGiI3E pic.twitter.com/ozmKvtPlwt

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 4, 2022

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After his speech, Jaishankar also held a question-answer session with the audience.

In reply to a question related to youths migrating to foreign countries marking a ‘brain drain’, Jaishankar said, “We are a democratic-globalised society. There are some prosperous societies in some places. Some families do have capabilities to move out. I do not think it appropriate or possible to prevent brain drain.”

The EAM said that those who are moving out can be called ‘agents of change’ since they too contribute to the progress of the country.

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“I think that in a way such people are an asset in foreign policy. I am not saying that it should be promoted, but I will not stop it either…I consider it as a sort of challenge and a sort of asset. I think that this is anyway going to happen, then how should we take advantage of it,” he added.

In reply to another question on controlling the population of the country, Jaishankar said that India’s population growth is falling very sharply owing to various reasons like ‘education, social awareness and prosperity’. He added that forced measures to control population can have dangerous consequences like gender balance disturbance and that its solution can only be democratic.

The event was also attended by Vijay Chauthaiwale, in-charge of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Foreign Affairs Department, on dais with Jaishankar.