India

Jaishankar confident of constructive ties with Dhaka

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expressed confidence that his country's relationship with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will continue to be "positive and constructive".

Speaking at an event titled "India, Asia and the World" hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York on Tuesday, he stressed that India was not trying to control every political aspect of its neighbours.

"I would urge you not to be deterministic about it. It's not like India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour. That's not how it works. It doesn't work, not just for us, it doesn't work for anybody else," Jaishankar said.

The Indian foreign minister was responding to a remark that India has given unconditional aid to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but change in governments of both countries seemed to be potentially adverse for India, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

"At the end of the day, each of our neighbours will have their own particular dynamics. It's not our intention to suggest that their dynamics must necessarily adhere to what we might consider as being better for us. I think this is the real world. I mean, everybody makes their choices and then countries adjust to each other and find ways of working it out," the minister was quoted by the PTI.

In the case of Bangladesh, Jaishankar said it was a little different. "What we have done over the last decade is projects of various kinds which have been good for both of us. Economic activity overall has picked up, and logistics of that region has improved."

Jaishankar's remarks came a day after his first meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Jaishankar said, "Every country will have its own dynamics. In foreign policy, you try to read, anticipate and then respond to it. I'm very confident at the end of it all, in our neighbourhood, the realities of interdependence or mutual benefit and our ability to get along will serve both our interests. Those realities will assert themselves. That's been the history."

He said that "something" happens in the region every few years and people suggest that there is "some kind of irretrievable situation out there".

"You then see the correctives beginning to manifest themselves. So, I would take it in that spirit and am quite confident that in both these cases, our relationship would continue to be positive and constructive," he said.

About Sri Lanka, Jaishankar said India stepped forward when Colombo was facing a very deep economic crisis, and "very frankly, when nobody else came forward".

"And I'm very glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner. We did it on scale. We put out $4.5 billion effectively," he said, adding that the move stabilised the Sri Lankan economy.

"The rest of it was up to them. At that time, we did it, it was not like we had a political conditionality which accompanied that. We were doing it as a good neighbour who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep."

Jaishankar said that what happens politically in Sri Lanka "is for their politics to work out".

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Jaishankar confident of constructive ties with Dhaka

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expressed confidence that his country's relationship with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will continue to be "positive and constructive".

Speaking at an event titled "India, Asia and the World" hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York on Tuesday, he stressed that India was not trying to control every political aspect of its neighbours.

"I would urge you not to be deterministic about it. It's not like India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour. That's not how it works. It doesn't work, not just for us, it doesn't work for anybody else," Jaishankar said.

The Indian foreign minister was responding to a remark that India has given unconditional aid to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but change in governments of both countries seemed to be potentially adverse for India, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

"At the end of the day, each of our neighbours will have their own particular dynamics. It's not our intention to suggest that their dynamics must necessarily adhere to what we might consider as being better for us. I think this is the real world. I mean, everybody makes their choices and then countries adjust to each other and find ways of working it out," the minister was quoted by the PTI.

In the case of Bangladesh, Jaishankar said it was a little different. "What we have done over the last decade is projects of various kinds which have been good for both of us. Economic activity overall has picked up, and logistics of that region has improved."

Jaishankar's remarks came a day after his first meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Jaishankar said, "Every country will have its own dynamics. In foreign policy, you try to read, anticipate and then respond to it. I'm very confident at the end of it all, in our neighbourhood, the realities of interdependence or mutual benefit and our ability to get along will serve both our interests. Those realities will assert themselves. That's been the history."

He said that "something" happens in the region every few years and people suggest that there is "some kind of irretrievable situation out there".

"You then see the correctives beginning to manifest themselves. So, I would take it in that spirit and am quite confident that in both these cases, our relationship would continue to be positive and constructive," he said.

About Sri Lanka, Jaishankar said India stepped forward when Colombo was facing a very deep economic crisis, and "very frankly, when nobody else came forward".

"And I'm very glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner. We did it on scale. We put out $4.5 billion effectively," he said, adding that the move stabilised the Sri Lankan economy.

"The rest of it was up to them. At that time, we did it, it was not like we had a political conditionality which accompanied that. We were doing it as a good neighbour who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep."

Jaishankar said that what happens politically in Sri Lanka "is for their politics to work out".

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