NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pushed back against the notion that India’s relationship with the United States is primarily shaped by their mutual stance on China, calling such a view both simplistic and misleading.
“I think it's a very gross oversimplification to make India-US about China. In fact, it's not just an oversimplification. I think it's even misleading at times,” Jaishankar said during a discussion with in New York.
Highlighting the multifaceted nature of the India-US partnership, Jaishankar pointed to the deep economic, technological, and people-to-people ties between the two democracies.
“Look at our trade numbers and look at the relevance of that trade to our respective economies. Look at our technology connect,” he said.
Jaishankar emphasised that even India-US defense cooperation often gets incorrectly framed in a China-centric narrative. “There is a tendency to point even the defence or security cooperation towards China, but I ask you to look at the other coast. We work to keep the Arabian Sea safe for global shipping.”
“This is (an) age of oversimplification. I urge you not to fall into that. I think the world is much more nuanced. It's much more multi-causal. We have many more interests than just one country,” he added.
“I would certainly like to believe that the relationship is going well because there is great merit in me.”
Addressing the broader geopolitical context, Jaishankar acknowledged the shifting dynamics between the US and China. “There are certain realities of the landscape, and one of them is that the relationship between the US and China is not what it used to be. It has acquired a much sharper competitive edge,” he said.
“Frankly, where we are concerned, we look at these two countries, and each one of them has made up its mind about how it views the other,” he continued. “Obviously, there will be an element of tactics to it. There's a larger strategic view that they have of each other.”
India, Jaishankar stressed, pursues its interests within this complex global framework. “I think in many ways, you can see that we have very strong convergences with the United States. At the same time, we are China's largest neighbour. We share a land boundary. We want stable relations with China,” he said.
He acknowledged that while China is a major trading partner for India, the relationship remains unbalanced. “So for us, how to sort of steady the China relationship, create an equilibrium that is fair to us (and) at the same time, how do you work the convergences with the United States and get the most out of it. I mean, that's, frankly, the way we would approach it,” Jaishankar said.
