NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is not closed to business from China, but is watchful of the sectors in which to do business with it and on what terms.
“We are not close to business from China... There’s nobody who can say I won’t do business with China. I think the issue is, which sectors do you do business and on what terms? So, it’s far more complicated than a black and white binary answer,” Jaishankar said while addressing the annual ambassadors’ conference of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
Amid the strained relations with China on the border issue, India tightened its scrutiny of investments from Chinese companies, considering security implications.
Jaishankar said trade with China should not impact national security. “We are well within our rights to tell businesses if they have exposure to national security. These are legitimate issues and not everyone plays by the same rule,” he said.
On resolution of Russia-Ukraine conflict, he repeated what PM Narendra Modi had said — this is not an era for war. “PM Modi went to Russia and Kyiv. We don’t think this conflict will be resolved on the battlefield. Main parties have to be at negotiations. This is not an era for war,” he said.
Responding to a query in which a German investor in India spoke about bureaucratic hurdles, Jaishankar said, “Challenges that businesses face due to bureaucracy is a reality and we recognise it. PM Modi has maintained that there is a need to shake up the environment and facilitate ease of doing business.’’
Jaishankar urged Germany to show interest in the Indo-Pacific just like India does in Germany. “Defence cooperation must be given greater thought, especially as the Indian private sector expands in that domain. We welcome the recent air exercises between India and Germany,” the external affairs minister added.