News Analysis India

Tag: S Jaishankar

  • India will always be a voice of moderation: EAM S Jaishankar

    India has previously been a member of the UN Security Council in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, and 1991-92.

  • Government will do whatever necessary to ensure India’s security is protected: S Jaishankar

    The minister said he has had good discussions with the visiting US Secretary of State on various global issues including on human rights, democracy, trafficking and big tech, as well as Afghanistan.

  • India, US stand united in addressing scourge of terrorism: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India and the US stand united in addressing the scourge of terrorism and supporting regional economic connectivity through transparent development of infrastructure, while ensuring respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, in a veiled jab at Pakistan and China.

    He said that the two sides are together in opposing terrorist safe havens, countering terror-financing and strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including those in India’s immediate neighbourhood.

    In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar said the India-US partnership is one of the major relationships in the world and the cooperation between the two countries is evident in the common commitment to address contemporary issues such as terrorism, climate change and pandemics.

    The external affairs minister’s comments came a day after he held wide-ranging talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with a focus on the Indo-Pacific engagement, COVID-19 response and economic recovery and the situation in Afghanistan.

    In his written response, Jaishankar said India and the US have a comprehensive, strategic and global partnership based on shared democratic values and convergence of interests on regional and global matters and the relations have seen a steady growth and development after 2014.

    He also referred to a joint strategic vision of the two countries for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions that calls upon all parties to avoid the threat or use of force and pursue resolution of territorial and maritime disputes through peaceful means and in accordance with international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

    “To this end, India and the US are committed to respecting freedom of navigation, overflight and commerce throughout the region and the need to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international laws,” Jaishankar said in comments seen as directed at China.

    China’s military assertiveness in the South China Sea as well as in the larger Indo-Pacific region has been a matter of considerable concern for leading global powers.

    Jaishankar said India and the US support bolstering regional economic connectivity through transparent development of infrastructure and the use of responsible “debt-financing practices”, while ensuring respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the rule of law and the environment.

    There has been growing global criticism of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as Chinese financing has resulted in rising debt in several countries where infrastructure projects under the mega programme are being implemented.

    “India and the US stand united in addressing the global scourge of terrorism, inter alia by opposing terrorist safe havens, countering terror financing and strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including those in our immediate neighbourhood. There are regular consultations on domestic and international terrorist designations listing proposals,” the external affairs minister said.

    Jaishankar said the global partnership between India and the United States is evident in their common commitment to address contemporary issues. “The India-US relationship is today one of the major relationships of the world and there is widespread appreciation of the significance of this relationship and the fundamental convergences therein,” he said.

    Jaishankar identified healthcare and COVID-19 response, the digital innovation ecosystem, energy, knowledge and education and strategic and defence collaborations as the key priorities of the ties.

    “Healthcare has emerged as an important sector of collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic. India’s timely supply of critical medicines and protective gear to the US last year was well-received,” he said, adding that the US government and private sector deployed substantial consignments of critical medicines and oxygen-related equipment for India to combat the second wave of the pandemic.

    Jaishankar said the rapidly expanding commercial and economic linkages form an important component of the multi-faceted partnership and that the US is among India’s largest trading partners and a major destination for its exports of goods and services, with the balance of trade in New Delhi’s favour.

    “As global non-proliferation partners, the US has expressed strong support for India’s early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and has supported India’s accession into the MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group,” he said.

    The minister said the US also supports India’s permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council. “India-US relations are on a strong footing, given the deep-rooted cooperation, shared values and interests. The leadership in both countries is committed to consolidating the relationship and global partnership in the coming years,” he said.

  • MEA S Jaishankar discusses Afghan situation with Iranian foreign minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Wednesday, focussing on the evolving situation in Afghanistan as well as bilateral issues.

    The conversation came two weeks after Jaishankar held extensive talks with Zarif and called on Iran’s President-elect Ebrahim Raisi during a stopover at the Iranian capital, Tehran, on his way to Russia.

    In a tweet, Jaishankar described the conversation as “productive”, without mentioning the areas of discussion.

    “Good to talk to Iranian FM @JZarif. A productive conversation on our ties,” he wrote on Twitter.

    Iranian media reports said the two foreign ministers discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan.

    “Foreign ministers of Iran and India discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan in a telephone conversation on Wednesday,” Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.

    Afghanistan has been witnessing a series of terror attacks and attempts by the Taliban to expand its territorial control after the United States began withdrawing its troops from the country on May 1.

    Along with Russia, Iran has been playing a major role in the Afghan peace process that has witnessed a renewed momentum following the drawdown of troops by the US as well as widespread violence in the country.

    Earlier this month, Iran hosted an intra-Afghan dialogue and the Taliban was part of it.

    It is learnt that Jaishankar and Zarif also deliberated on bilateral issues.

    The development of the Chabahar port has been a major highlight of the ties between the two countries.

    At a connectivity conference in Tashkent last week, Jaishankar projected Iran’s Chabahar port as a key regional transit hub, including to Afghanistan.

    Located in Sistan-Balochistan province on energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost trade ties.

  • No serious connectivity initiative can ever be a one-way street: S Jaishankar

    Jaishankar said there was a need to address not just physical infrastructure but all its accompanying facets while expanding connectivity between Central Asia and South Asia.

  • Jaishankar meets Mohammad Atmar amid growing Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar, who briefed him about the situation in the war-torn country amid growing security concerns over the Taliban fighters rapidly seizing control of a large number of areas, forcing many countries to scale down their presence there.

    While there was no official readout of Jaishankar-Atmar meeting from the Indian side, an official release from the Afghan side said they met to “discuss the political and security situation, peace process, and India’s cooperation with Afghanistan in various fields, including the joint fight against terrorism and the establishment of lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region”.

    Jaishankar arrived in the Tajik capital on Tuesday for a two-day visit to attend the meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers and the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan which will discuss the deteriorating security situation, arising out of speedy withdrawal of the US forces.

    “Began my Dushanbe visit by meeting with Afghan FM @MHaneefAtmar. Appreciate his update on recent developments. Looking forward to the meeting of the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan tomorrow,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    During the meeting, Atmar elaborated on the political and security situation in Afghanistan, the outcome of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s recent visit to Washington DC, and the United States’ continued support and cooperation with Afghanistan, the release said.

    It further added that Atmar, while referring to the escalation of the Taliban attacks in collusion with foreign fighters and regional and international terrorist networks against civilians and the Afghan defense forces, said overcoming this common threat was of vital importance to regional security.

    Atmar underscored the constructive role of India in strengthening regional consensus on the Afghan peace process and the preservation of the achievements of the last two decades, it said.

    Jaishankar expressed concern over the escalation of violence and stressed the need to end the bloodshed in Afghanistan, the release said, and added that the Indian minister assured Atmar of India’s continued cooperation in strengthening regional and global consensus to achieve a political settlement in Afghanistan.

    India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

    The meeting between the two foreign ministers comes days after India evacuated around 50 diplomats and security personnel from its consulate in Kandahar in a military aircraft in the wake of intense fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban militants.

    Noting that the government was closely monitoring the situation, Indian officials said the Indian consulates in Afghanistan’s Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif remain operational.

    Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s envoy to India Farid Mamundzay said the Indian consulate general in Kandahar has not been closed and continues to operate through local staff.

    “The temporary measure to bring diplomats back to India is based on safety and security grounds. India’s long-term commitment towards a peaceful, sovereign and stable Afghanistan remains strong,” he said.

    Several countries, including China and France have asked their nationals to leave Afghanistan over security concerns.

    A number of countries have also sent home non-essential personnel from their diplomatic missions in Kabul and warned their citizens against travelling to Afghanistan.

    The SCO contact group meeting on Afghanistan especially assumes significance as it comes amidst growing global concerns over Taliban fighters rapidly seizing control of a large number of areas in Afghanistan.

    Afghanistan has witnessed a series of terror attacks in the last few weeks as the US looked to complete the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan by August-end, ending a nearly two-decade of its military presence in the war-ravaged country.

    A major stakeholder in the peace and stability of Afghanistan, India has already invested nearly USD 3 billion in aid and reconstruction activities in the country.

    The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, is an eight-member economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

    India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

    The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

  • Afghanistan situation highlight of Jaishankar’s talk with Russian External Affairs Minister

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India is concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and stressed that the legitimacy of those governing the war-torn country must not be ignored.

    “Of course we are concerned at the direction of events in Afghanistan. The point right now we stress is that we must see a reduction in violence. Violence cannot be the solution for the situation in Afghanistan. At the end of the day, who governs Afghanistan has a legitimacy aspect. I think that is something which cannot and should not be ignored,” Jaishankar said during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

    The minister’s remarks come amid the Taliban announcing that it now controls 85% of Afghan territory and the Pentagon saying that withdrawal of troops from the country is over 90% complete. Following withdrawal of troops, the Taliban has made rapid strides and pushed the country on the brink of a civil war. Under a deal with Taliban, the US and its allies agreed to withdraw troops in return for a commitment that the militants would prevent extremists from operating in areas they control.

    Jaishankar said conferences and discussions have been held internationally on how to stabilise Afghanistan for over 30 years now. “The reason for this is that it (security in Afghanistan) has proven implications for regional security and regional stability,” he said and added that India and Russia have to work together to ensure progress in economic and social realms in Afghanistan.

    India, a major stakeholder in the peace and stability of Afghanistan, has been supporting intra-Afghan dialogue and has emphasised that the peace process should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

    New Delhi has development partnership of around $3 billion, including more than 550 Community Development Projects covering all 34 provinces, aimed at making Afghanistan a self-sustaining nation.

    On his discussions with Lavrov, Jaishankar said India has always seen its relationship with Russia as a contribution to global peace, security and stability.

    First georgia trip by indian EAM

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Georgia, where he will hold talks with his counterpart David Zalkaliani. He reached Georgia on Friday. The visit is the first by an Indian external affairs minister since Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is also seen as a tit-for-tat gesture to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Islamabad from New Delhi in April. 

    Jaishankar was on a two-day to visit to Russia where he met among others Lavrov and Russian deputy PM Yuri Borisov. Tensions are high between Russia and Georgia since the war in 2008, following which two regions of Georgia declared independence with Russia’s support. New Delhi does not recognise either region as separate countries.

  • China not observing border agreements has strained relation: S Jaishankar

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that Beijing not observing agreements has led to the disturbance of the foundation of India-China ties.

    “I would say for the last 40 years we had a very stable relation with Beijing. China emerged as the second-largest trade partner. But for the last one year, there has been a lot of concern about the relationship because China has not observed agreements that it had signed up to when it came to our border,” the minister said in response to a question on China-India relations at the Primakov Institute of World Economy & International Relations in Moscow.

    Jaishankar arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit and is expected to hold bilateral talks with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov later in the day. The leaders will discuss bilateral issues and the deteriorating Afghan situation following the US departure of US troops. 

    On a question on the possibility of nuclear arms race between the two countries, Jaishankar dismissed it saying the evolution of the Chinese nuclear program has a much larger dynamic than India. “I don’t believe there is a nuclear arms race between India and China. China became a nuclear power in 1964, India in 1998.”

    On relations with Russia, Jaishankar said that there is no doubt that relations between the two countries was among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War.  “Russians will surely recall the ups and downs in their ties with the United States, Europe, China or Japan, or for that matter, Turkey and Iran. On their part, objective Indians would also recognize that this was the case with them as well,” he said.

    “Where the India-Russia bilateral ties are concerned, there have been changes — even issues — from time to time.  The paradox though is that precisely because it has held so steady, this relationship is sometimes taken for granted. The case for its constant nurturing is therefore as powerful, if not more, than with the more volatile ones.”

    India, Iran discuss situation in AfghanistanJaishankar discussed the Afghanistan situation with the Iranian leadership during a stopover in Tehran en route Moscow. “The two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They also discussed the evolving situation in Afghanistan… Both sides discussed joint connectivity initiatives in the region including Chabahar,” the MEA said.

  • India could bring back nationals, officials from trouble-torn Afghanistan

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: India is weighing options to bring its nationals and officials back from troubled Afghanistan amid the worsening security situation there. The Taliban has already overrun a vast swathe of territory in the north without firing a bullet as scared Afghan soldiers fled to neighbouring Tajikistan, forcing countries like Russia and Turkey to close their consulates in the region and call back their diplomats.

    Other have reduced their services and are worriedly watching the situation that is bound to deteriorate further before the September 11 deadline for full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan arrives. “Plans have been discussed for bringing back our citizens and officials present in different parts of that country and multiple agencies are in discussion for this purpose,” sources said. Since the proposal is in the planning stage, it is difficult to say right now if all nationals and officials would be brought back or if it would be partial evacuation.

    India has its embassy in Kabul and consulates in Kandahar and Mazar where it has over 500 staff. It closed two consulates in Herat and Jalalabad earlier. For the record, the embassy said: “Media reports on #India closing its Embassy & Consulates in Afghanistan are incorrect. @IndianEmbKabul, Consulates in Kandahar & Mazar are open, functioning. We DO HOWEVER continue to closely monitor the evolving security situation particularly around Kandahar & Mazar cities.”

    Matter to figure in talks with Russia 

    The Afghan issue will come up for discussion during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s three-day visit to Russia beginning Wednesday.

  • Need global approach for key challenges like pandemics: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: One of the paradoxes of current times has been that though climate change, terrorism and pandemics are global problems, the response to them tends to be national, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

    Jaishankar also noted that there was a need to effectively utilise the capabilities spread across the world to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The external affairs minister was speaking at a virtual interactive session with former British prime minister Tony Blair at the India Global Forum. “The reality is that nobody can make vaccines by themselves. If the world comes together, we are going to scale up production of vaccines,” Jaishankar said.

    India has been consistently calling for adopting a united global approach in dealing with major challenges facing the world like terrorism, climate change and pandemics. “One of the paradoxes of our era is that the real problems are all global. Climate change is global, terrorism is global, pandemics are global. But our response tends to be national. Just look back at the last year-and-half,” he said.

    “Which country has not thought nationally? Unless we are able to overcome that and look at international coordination and collaboration, we are not going to be able to get on top of this,” Jaishankar said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

    In his remarks, Jaishankar also mentioned the adverse impact of the pandemic including job losses on a huge scale, economic stress and how it forced people to change lifestyles. “Our lives have come, in a sense, to a halt. People lost lives on a huge scale, the stress level has increased, there have been changes in lifestyle. It is huge and still continuing,” he said.

    Jaishankar said that there have been indications from the beginning of 2021 by the world community on working together to address the problem. “I am optimistic about much more international collaboration on the response system,” he said.

    Jaishankar said the pandemic has taken health right up the priority list as well as accelerated the digital side of people’s lives. “A new global agenda is in the making. The new global agenda is much greener, is much more health conscious much more digital. It looks at a lot of other insecurities which were magnified by the pandemic,” he said.

    Blair said the G20 can play a crucial role in uniting global efforts to deal with the challenge. He said India will be a very important player in the production of COVID-19 vaccines. In his comments, Jaishankar also underlined the need for reforms in multilateral institutions to effectively deal with challenges facing the world.