New York: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that it is a “very gross oversimplification” and “even misleading at times” to make the India-US relationship about China.
Jaishankar was responding to a question on how much of the India-US relationship is defined by its stance on China.
“I think it’s a very gross oversimplification to make India-US about China. In fact, it’s not just an oversimplification. I think it’s even misleading at times,” Jaishankar said Monday during a conversation with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad at the publication’s headquarters at One World Trade Centre near the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan.
He said that the India-US relationship is about “so many other things,” noting the large Indian community, which contributes significantly to the US.
“I think it’s been a game-changer. It has nothing to do with China,” he said.
He stressed that Washington and Delhi have a very strong economic connection.
“Look at our trade numbers and look at the relevance of that trade to our respective economies. Look at our technology connect,” he said, adding that there is a tendency to point even the defence or security cooperation towards China, but “I ask you to look at the other coast. We work to keep the Arabian Sea safe for global shipping.
“This is an age of oversimplification. I urge you not to fall into that. I think the world is much more nuanced. It’s much more multi-causal. We have many more interests than just one country. I would certainly like to believe that the relationship is going well because there is great merit in me,” Jaishankar said.
He added that there are certain realities of the landscape, and one of them is that the relationship between the US and China is not what it used to be; it has acquired a much sharper competitive edge.
“Frankly, where we are concerned, we look at these two countries, and each one of them has made up its mind about how it views the other. Obviously, there will be an element of tactics to it. There’s a larger strategic view that they have of each other,” he said, adding that “we would look quite honestly to see in what way our interests are furthered in this landscape.
“I think in many ways, you can see that we have very strong convergences with the United States. At the same time, we are China’s largest neighbour. We share a land boundary. We want stable relations with China,” he said, adding that Beijing is a very large trade partner as well, even though it is an imbalanced trade.
“So for us, how to sort of steady the China relationship, create an equilibrium that is fair to us (and) at the same time, how do you work the convergences with the United States and get the most out of it. I mean, that’s, frankly, the way we would approach it,” he said.
PTI
