‘We look for partners not preachers': Jaishankar says Europe must show sensitivity to strengthen India ties

Indian Express

04-05-2025

Europe must show sensitivity and mutual interest to strengthen ties with India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, adding that New Delhi seeks partners, not 'preachers.'
Speaking at the Arctic Circle India Forum, Jaishankar said that India's consistent advocacy of 'Russia realism' and highlighted the 'important fit' and 'complementarity' between India and Russia, as a resource provider and consumer.
He also criticised previous Western attempts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict without involving Russia, arguing it 'challenged the basics of realism.'
'Just like I am an advocate of Russia realism, I am also an advocate of America realism,' he said.
'I think the best way to engage today's America is also through finding mutuality of interests rather than putting ideological differences upfront and then allowing it to cloud the possibilities of working together,' he added.
In conversation with @ORGrimsson and @samirsaran at the #ArcticCircleIndiaForum2025. @orfonline @_Arctic_Circle https://t.co/626uk5lgra
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 4, 2025
On India's expectations from Europe, Jaishankar said Europe must move beyond preaching and start acting on a framework of mutual interest.
'When we look at the world, we look for partners; we do not look for preachers, particularly preachers who do not practice at home and preach abroad,' he said.
He acknowledged that some parts of Europe are still grappling with this issue, though he noted that 'some of it has changed.' Jaishankar stated that Europe has 'entered a certain zone of reality check.'
'Now whether they are able to step up to it or not, we will have to see,' he said.
'But from our perspective, if we are to develop a partnership, there must be understanding, sensitivity, mutuality of interest, and a realization of how the world works,' he added.
Jaishankar further pointed out that these factors are still works in progress with different parts of Europe. 'Some have moved further, some a little less,' he said.
Regarding India-Russia ties, he reiterated the 'important fit and complementarity' between the two countries as a 'resource provider and resource consumer.'
'Where Russia is concerned, we have always maintained there is a Russia realism that we have advocated,' he said. 'When passions were very high in 2022 and 2023, if one looks back, the predictions and scenarios that were put forward have turned out not to be well-founded,' he added.
Throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, New Delhi continued to engage with Moscow and increased its procurement of Russian crude oil, despite growing disquiet in the West.
This statement follows Jaishankar's recent conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which Jaishankar said that those responsible for the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 must be brought to justice.
Lavrov called for resolving disagreements between New Delhi and Islamabad through political and diplomatic means, in line with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999.