Getting to know who our friends are: Jaishankar

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Thousands Of Miles Away From Geneva Where India Is Fighting A Misinformation Battle Waged By Pakistan At The Sidelines Of The UNHRC Session, Minister Of External Affairs S. Jaishankar Was Asked Today In Delhi About The Reaction On The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) From Various Parts Of The World. Is India “Losing Friends” Gradually? A Seasoned Diplomat-Turned-Politician, Jaishankar Paused For A While And Then Said, “Maybe We Are Getting To Know, Who Our Friends Really Are.” A Straight, Simple, And Honest Reply Quite Aptly Summing Up The Situation India Is Currently Facing. “It Is Kind Of A Geopolitical Assessment. There Was A Time When India Was Very Defensive—Our Capabilities Were Less, Our Risks Were Higher. We Mostly Adopted A Policy Of Non-Interference. We Cannot Do That Anymore. We Are The Fifth-Largest Economy In The World. Soon We Will Become The Third-Largest. The Nature Of The World Has Changed. As We Get More Capable, As Our Confidence Level Goes Up And As Our Interest In The World Grows, We Have To Do Management In A Different Way. We Have To Engage Everybody. It Is A Kind Of Portfolio Management, You Spread Your Bets, And Get The Best,” He Added. But Managing A Portfolio When Market (Read Country’s Image) Is Sinking Can Turn Out To Be A Really Tricky Affair. Pakistan’s Propaganda War, If Not Nailed Immediately, Can Hurt India In Future. Indian Diplomats Have Not Let Pakistan Steal The Agenda. Its Role In Promoting Terror Has Also Undermined Its Credibility Across The World. Yet, It Disinformation Campaign, Just Like The Ongoing One In Geneva, Is Trying To Dent India’s Image. The World Knows Pakistan’s Lies, But The Lies Repeated A Thousand Times Sometimes Acquire The Visage Of Truth. Joining Them In This Malicious Campaign Is Not Only A Certain Section Of The Media—As Latest As Saturday There Was A Shocking Piece In A Leading US Daily About Minorities Being Massacred In India—But Also Leaders Like Iran’s Khamenei, Bernie Sanders From The US, And Some From The European Union. Jaishankar Had Tried To Clear The Misconceptions During His Meeting With The EU Foreign Ministers Recently. “We Have A Large Number Of Stateless People In This Country And We Have Tried To Reduce The Number Of Stateless People Through The Legislation. That Should Be Appreciated. And We Have Done It In A Way That We Don’t End Up Creating A Bigger Problem For Ourselves. Show Me One Country In The World That Says Everyone In The World Is Welcome. Look At The Americans, Look At Europeans,” He Said..</p>