‘There are challenges from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria’: S Jaishankar

“What we do in my business is essentially try to address the challenges of the day as collectively and as effectively as possible. And this today would extend from Gaza to Lebanon and now to Syria as well. But at the same time, we have to be realistic about competing interests in this region,” he said. “One of the interesting evolutions of the world today is actually on different issues, sometimes in the same region, you have a different combination of countries that are working together,” he added.

The minister also weighed in on the “relationship or absence of it between Israel and Iran”, which he said, has been a source of concern and some of India’s diplomatic efforts are focused on that aspect.

“We are one country that has the ability to speak to both Israel and Iran. That is one communication link, which is weak. We are not the only communication link. We are serving an important cause; at the right moment, right people get what the intended message is,” he said. In October, Iran fired around 200 missiles into Israel in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders of the militant outfit. Israel subsequently retaliated against the Iranian strikes.

On the attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea (by Houthi militants), Jaishankar said India has an interest in trying to mitigate the security situation. “So when we look at the diversion of maritime routes and the insurance costs, and the shipping costs and the container costs and the delay that it has imposed, obviously, you know, India, but not just India, we have an interest in trying to mitigate that situation,” he added.

He also highlighted India’s sustained economic growth and the West Asian region’s place in that matrix. “India is today almost a $4 trillion economy, (and) we expect to comfortably double that this decade. Our trade is today around $800 billion; that too should at least double this decade,” he said.

“So I again cannot overstate the stakes that we have because this region is the immediate for us the world beyond our borders that immediately awaits us,” he said.