EAM Jaishankar calls China a ‘unique problem’ at ET World Leaders Forum

Calling China a ‘unique problem’, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India is not the only country in the world that is having a debate about that country.

Addressing the ET World Leaders Forum on Saturday, Jaishankar said everyone chose to consciously overlook the nature of Chinese production decades ago, and are now complaining.

“China is a unique problem because it has a unique polity and economy. It’s not just an Indian problem. If today people are complaining about trade deficits with China, it is because decades ago, we all consciously chose to overlook the nature of Chinese production and the advantages that they enjoyed in a system where they got a level playing field with all the advantages that they brought to bear,” Jaishankar said.

“There is a general China problem. We are not the only country in the world which is having a debate about China,” he strongly asserted.

Citing an example of Europe and the US, the EAM said, “Go to Europe and ask them, what is today among your major economic or national security debates? It’s about China. Look at the United States, it’s obsessed with China, and rightly so in many ways.”

Notably, in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started.

Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar further asked, “What happens when you have multiple neighbours?”

And then, making a thinly-veiled reference to neighbouring nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan, Jaishankar termed neighbouring countries as ‘democratic polities’, saying that the change in government will always give rise to political debates in the country.

“You know, by definition, relationships with neighbours are very complicated. They are all democratic polities. Governments will change, and there will be political debates in their country. Often, we will be the centre of those debates. It’s natural as we are a big country. We have to expect, plan and build into our policy, making an expectation that there will be changes, some more organic and some more disruptive in our neighbourhood,” the minister went on to say.

Jaishankar on Friday said that India has to find a ground of mutual interest with Bangladesh and India would deal with ‘the government of the day’.

Speaking at the release of Ambassador Rajiv Sikri’s new book, “Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy”, the External Affairs minister said that the political changes in Bangladesh can be ‘disruptive’.

“Since Bangladesh’s independence, our relationship has gone up and down, and it is natural that we will deal with the government of the day. But we also have to recognise that there are political changes, and they can be disruptive. And clearly here we have to look for mutuality of interest,” he said.

The minister also did some plain speaking about India’s relationship with its neighbour Pakistan.

“I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. And insofar as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think Article 370 is done. So the, the issue today is what kind of relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan?…Whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way, we will react to it,” Jaishankar said.