Parties must prioritise national interest over politics: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

Responding to a question from a student on whether political parties should prioritise national interest over internal politics, Jaishankar said, “It is important to put national interest first. Politics of the day should hamper the large interest of the nation. All politicians should have that approach in the first place. But it is easy to say. It does not always get back. But politics of the day should not lead our borders to be vulnerable. To some extent we have to create the culture and to some extent the public opinion on this should come.”

The Union minister cited the abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to drive home his point.

“If you look at the whole Article 370 issue… other than the politics of the day, what was the reason for a temporary provision to continue for so long?” Jaishankar said.

During the lecture, the minister also spoke in favour of strengthening national security in view of the current global scenario.