‘Compare 26/11 with Pulwama and Uri’: Jaishankar on Modi’s foreign policy

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday addressed a public event in Ahmedabad and said he wants people to understand what he, as a foreign minister, does.

Talking to the youth, he said, “You must have read foreign minister is travelling to the US, Australia etc. But what do I do? I want people to understand what I do or a foreign minister does. There are two aspects: first is to introduce India to the world and also to bring the world to India.”

The world has now become ready for India, Jaishankar said adding that the Modi government has foreign policies for 10 days, 10 months and 10 years. “There are three aspects of Modi’s foreign policies. The focus is on security, development and people. There is PM Modi’s vision and there is delivery as well. We have foreign policies for 10 days, 10 months and 10 years and all these are being planned simultaneously,” Jaishankar said.

The responsibility of these 10 years is on the public while the vision is of PM Modi and the commitment is of the foreign ministry.

Talking about the two major factors of the world today, Jaishankar said the ‘changing US’ and the ‘Rising China’ are the two most important developments. “China has been gaining strength economically, politically and militarily. At the same time, it’s a new America today in front of us,” Jaishankar said.

Referring to Covid, iPhone manufacturing in India and the fuel price rise as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Jaishankar said, “Don’t think foreign policy, diplomacy is something that is outside the country. No, they are related to your everyday life.”

On the focus of security of PM Modi’s foreign policy, Jaishankar said, “We all know that India has always been a victim of terrorism. But, now our vision regarding it has changed. You can compare it with what happened in Mumbai in 2008 and in Uri and Pulwama. You can see how confident our government has been in its policies.”