Jaishankar Advocates Realistic Approach in India-China Relations

New Delhi: In an explosive statement, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday attacked the “China First” policy in the 1950s of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru and added that this would not have happened had the Congress not been in power and Nehru not been both PM and foreign minister back then. In an interview to news agency ANI in the context of the release of his book Why Bharat Matters, he said the “manner in which we supported China in the 1950s on a range of issues showed Nehru's personal proclivity” as was the decision to take the Kashmir issue to the UN.

Talking about the differences back then in the approach towards China between Nehru and India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the minister said the policy of the Narendra Modi government on China is very much in conformity with the strand of realism adopted by Sardar Patel. Mr Jaishankar also said India was no longer “playing the game of Pakistan which had used cross-border terrorism to bring India to the table” previously, adding that New Delhi had made that “core policy” of Islamabad “irrelevant”.

He further said “it is not that India will not deal with a neighbour”, but it will not be on the “basis of terms that they (Pakistan) have set that terrorism is legitimate”.

In remarks that are likely to trigger a huge politcal storm as the countdown begins to the Lok Sabha polls, the minister described the view adopted in the 1950s by Nehru that “China’s interests come first” as a “peculiar” one, adding that the “China First” policy eventually ended up as a “Chindia” policy.

“The Modi government has been very much in conformity with the strand of realism which originated from Sardar Patel”, Mr Jaishankar said. It may be noted that India suffered a defeat in the border war against China in 1962. Asked about the future trajectory of bilateral ties with China, the minister said “a lot depends on China’s policy”.

The issue has also been in the spotlight ever since China amassed troops near the LAC in the Ladakh sector in the spring and summer of 2020, that resulted in the military clash with India in the Galwan Valley in June that year. Chinese troops have also refused to pull back in several areas in the Ladakh sector despite several rounds of Sino-Indian talks at the military and diplomatic levels since then.

Asked about the political component to foreign policy, the minister referred to India’s ties with Israel many decades ago and said the judgment was then made (by earlier governments in New Delhi) that due to “political reasons” in the country, India will not have an ambassadorial relationship (full-fledged diplomatic ties) with Israel.

Pointing out how things have changed now, Mr Jaishankar said the improvement in ties with Israel “clearly reflect the fact that the BJP is in power” in India. At the same time, the minister also highlighted how India’s ties with the Arab nations in the Gulf had “transformed” and strengthened enormously under the leadership in India of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.    

On why the initially-proposed visit of US President Joe Biden to India could not materialise later this month to attend India’s Republic Day parade as chief guest, the minister said Mr Biden’s visit was “tied to the Quad”, an obvious reference to a summit of the four-nation Quad that India had initially planned to host later this month.

“We couldn’t get a landing zone. We couldsn’t get everything agreed by everybody. So it didn’t work,” he added, without elaborating further. It may be noted New Delhi now plans to host the Quad summit later this year. On bilateral ties with Canada, the minister reiterated India’s view that “in Canadian politics, these Khalistani forces have been given a lot of space and have been allowed to indulge in activities damaging to the (bilateral) relationship”.

In an oblique criticism of the West when asked about some foreign allegations about democratic backsliding in India, the EAM said it has been India’s policy not to keep commenting on the developments in other countries but added “with the passage of time, this tradition of not commenting on affairs of (other) countries may change”.

The minister also described ties with Russia as “very steady”.

Asked about the shrill criticism in the Western media about his recent visit to Moscow, the EAM said it was important to understand that the “foreign media is not agenda-less and motive-less”.

On India’s success as G-20 Chair at the summit in September last year, Mr Jaishankar said all the other members “came to the table because they had a relationship with India” and that “everyone made a compromise”, an obvious reference to India’s success in finalising a joint statement on all issues of concern, including the Ukraine conflict.