NEW DELHI, 11 Jun: India will focus on resolving the remaining issues along the frontier with China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, amid the over four-year-long border row in eastern Ladakh that significantly strained bilateral ties.
Shortly after taking charge of the external affairs ministry, Jaishankar, referring to cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, said that efforts will be made to address the challenge.
Jaishankar, 69, was among senior BJP leaders, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, who retained the ministries that they had handled in the previous government.
The EAM said, “‘India first’ and ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the world is one family) will be the two guiding axioms of Indian foreign policy.
On ties with China going forward, Jaishankar said that some issues remain along the border with that country and efforts will be made to resolve them.
“Our focus with regard to China will be on how to resolve the remaining issues,” he told reporters.
The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved, though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.
Asked about the new government’s approach towards Islamabad, Jaishankar identified Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism as the key issue.
“With Pakistan, we have the issue of terrorism – cross-border terrorism – how do we find a solution to it, that cannot be a policy of a good neighbour,” he said.
The external affairs minister also briefly talked about the government’s foreign policy priorities.
“Looking ahead, definitely I think the two axioms that the prime minister has given us – ‘India first’ and ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ – these will be the two guiding axioms of Indian foreign policy,” he said.
“Madam Together, we are very confident it will position us as ‘vishwa bandhu’ – a country which is in a very turbulent world, in a very divided world, a world of conflicts and tensions, it would actually position us as a country which is trusted by many, whose prestige and influence will grow, whose interests will be advanced,” he said.
Jaishankar said that the external affairs ministry performed “exceptionally well” in the previous government, and that it is a great privilege for him to helm the ministry once again.
“It is for me an immense honour and great privilege to be once again given the responsibility of leading the ministry of external affairs. In the last term, this ministry actually performed exceptionally well,” he said. (PTI)
