NEW DELHI: India’s most pressing priorities are in its neighbourhood. However, Pakistan due to its support for cross-border terrorism is the odd one out among the country's neighbours, says External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“India has a generous and non-reciprocal approach to smaller neighbours. This in our region has come to be known as the neighbourhood first policy. This has seen an increase in cooperation and connectivity in the region. The only exception is Pakistan due to its encouragement of cross border terrorism,” said Jaishankar in his first visit to the Dominican Republic.
It may be recalled that a few days back while addressing the media in Panama, Jaishankar had made a similar statement.
This comes ahead of the SCO Foreign Ministers meet that will be held in Goa on May 4-5 which will be attended in person by Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto.
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Meanwhile, he also said that relations with China are abnormal.
“Because of the boundary dispute, the nature of our ties with China are abnormal. That is an outcome of violation of agreements regarding border management by them. The rise of China and India in a parallel timeframe is also not without its competitive aspects,” Jaishankar added.
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang too is expected to attend the upcoming SCO meet in Goa.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar, along with the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, inaugurated the Indian embassy in the country.
“Our political relations are exceptionally cordial and we coordinate closely in the multilateral arena. We are confident that the presence of our resident mission will mark a new phase of cooperation and help strengthen our ties in the bilateral, regional and global domains,” Jaishankar said.