External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated on Friday that managing India’s relationships with its neighbouring countries is challenging due to historical context, the size of these nations, and sociological differences.
“We recognize today that given our history, the size of our neighbours, the sociology of our neighbours and ourselves, these are not easy relationships to manage,” said Jaishankar.
He noted that political ups and downs are common among many of India’s neighbours and that stirring sentiments about India is often an easy way out. These realities must be accepted, he said.
“We also need to appreciate that today we have more resources and more capabilities. We are geographically at the centre. Our size is so much bigger,” said Jaishankar.
“If you look at our neighbours today, in many cases we have power grids, power plants, we are exporting or importing energy. We have fuel pipelines, roads, rail, and waterway connections. We have tried to proof the relationship against political ups and downs,” he added.
He remarked that there have been instances where India has become a political issue in some neighbouring countries, but it has successfully managed to mitigate intense situations through effective measures.
India has demonstrated its capability to assert its interests, compete with other countries, and often surpass them in resources and performance.
On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the world is closely watching India as its policies, commitment, determination, decisions, and investments are becoming the foundation for global progress.
“We achieved independence as a poor nation and those who wished to exploit us did so until the very end. In 100 years, after overcoming numerous challenges and meeting our goals, India will mark its 100th year of independence as a developed country in 2047,” said Narendra Modi at the CII post-Budget conference in Delhi.
