Chinese whispers

In a speech at the launch of the Asia Society Policy Institute, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that mutual sensitivity, respect and interest can put our relations with China back on a positive path. Each must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other. Distinguishing India from triumphalism on an “Asian century”, he said it would call for “effective management of the contradictions of our continent”, which “needs a modus vivendi among its key players”. A multi-polar Asia, he said, is “essential for both the Asian century and the multipolar world.” While Jaishankar had mentioned the value of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the role of the Quad in ensuring it, the hint of an olive branch to Beijing sounded like an echo to American ears of India’s neutrality on the Ukraine war. could. For the US proposal of democracies against autocracy to find traction globally, its policy orientation needs to be a renewed push for globalization that works in favor of economies like India. An internally focused America doesn’t make the cut, and our foreign relations remain regime agnostic on a rigid calculation of self-interest.