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News18
18-05-2025
- Business
- News18
EAM Jaishankar To Begin Europe Trip On Monday With Visits To Netherlands, Denmark, Germany
Last Updated: Jaishankar will meet the top leadership of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany and hold discussions with his counterparts from these countries. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will begin his six-day Europe trip on Monday (May 19) by paying an official visit to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. His trip will last till May 24. Jaishankar will meet the top leadership of all three countries and hold discussions with his counterparts on the entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as regional and global matters of mutual interest. The visit is likely part of India's continued efforts to deepen its strategic engagement with key European partners. The discussions are expected to include cooperation in trade, technology, renewable energy, innovation and people-to-people ties. The visit will take place days after India achieved a historic achievement by concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom, eliminating tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian products entering the UK market. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the FTA as 'historic milestone" that India and the UK have achieved in concluding an FTA between the two countries. advetisement Last month, Jaishankar had said that India was 'geared up for a high degree of urgency" in reaching trade negotiations with several countries, including the European Union, amid US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. 'Looking For Partners, Not Preachers' Earlier this month, the External Affairs Minister had taken a dig at some European countries, saying India was looking for partners and not preachers who do not practice the same principles at home. Speaking at the Arctic Circle India Forum 2025, Jaishankar said, 'When we look at the world, we look for partners, we don't look for preachers. Particularly, preachers who don't practice at home what they preach abroad. Some of Europe is still struggling with that problem." He also said that Europe was getting a reality check as it was finally seeing the realities of multipolarity today. 'I think it has still not adjusted and absorbed it fully. The US has dramatically changed positions," he said. First Published: May 18, 2025, 13:16 IST News india EAM Jaishankar To Begin Europe Trip On Monday With Visits To Netherlands, Denmark, Germany
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First Post
10-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Only preaches, no partners: How West has sustained anti-India bias on Kashmir issue
Even a cursory look at the history of certain Western countries' attitudes toward India's position on Kashmir reveals a significant danger for India today read more Indian security personnel patrol the site of the terrorist attack in Baisaran, near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, on April 24, 2025. The terror attack happened on April 22, 2025. Image: Reuters On May 4, during an interactive session at the Arctic Circle India Forum 2025, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke of broader geopolitical upheavals affecting the world, in particular Europe, which 'must display some sensitivity and mutuality of interest for deeper ties with India'. Answering a question on India's expectations from Europe, Jaishankar said, 'When we look out at the world, we look for partners; we do not look for preachers, particularly preachers who do not practice at home and preach abroad.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This sharp answer came after the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint. Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, formerly a Prime Minister of Estonia, was obviously ill-informed about the situation in Kashmir (and along the India-Pakistan border). The attitude of certain Western countries (as well as the UN General Secretary) represents a great danger for India today; it has been so in the past. The Kashmir Issue A few years ago, while researching in the Nehru papers, I came across a 'Top Secret' note written in the early 1950s by Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai, then secretary-general of the Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Affairs; it was entitled 'Background to the Kashmir Issue: Facts of the Case'; it made fascinating reading. It started with a historical dateline: 'Invasion of the state by tribesmen and Pakistan nationals through or from Pakistan territory on October 20, 1947; the ruler's offer of accession of the state to India supported by the National Conference, a predominantly Muslim though non-communal political organisation, on October 26, 1947; acceptance of the accession by the British Governor-General of India on October 27, 1947; under this accession, the state became an integral part of India.' Unfortunately, in a separate note, Lord Mountbatten, the Governor General of India, mentioned a plebiscite which would 'take place at a future date when law and order had been restored and the soil of the state cleared of the invader', then 'the people of the state were given the right to decide whether they should remain in India or not.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It was an unnecessary addition, but Mountbatten wanted to show British (so-called) legendary fairness. Anyway, the conditions were clear and in two parts: first, the Pakistani troops or irregulars should withdraw from the Indian territory that they occupied, and later a plebiscite could be envisaged. Bajpai's note also observed: 'Pakistan, not content with assisting the invader, has itself become an invader, and its army is still occupying a large part of the soil of Kashmir, thus committing a continuing breach of international law.' The Gift of Gilgit Worse was to come; Maj Brown, a British officer, illegally offered Gilgit to Pakistan. The British paramountcy had lapsed on August 1, 1947, and Gilgit had reverted to the Maharaja's control. Lt Col Roger Bacon, the British political agent, handed his charge to Brig Ghansara Singh, the new governor appointed by Maharaja Hari Singh, while Maj Brown remained in charge of the Gilgit Scouts. Despite Hari Singh having signed the Instrument of Accession and joined India, Maj Brown refused to acknowledge the orders of the Maharaja under the pretext that some leaders of the Frontier Districts Province (Gilgit-Baltistan) wanted to join Pakistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On November 1, 1947, he handed over the entire area to Pakistan, in all probability ordered by the British generals. An interesting announcement appeared in the 1948 London Gazette mentioning that the King 'has been graciously pleased… to give orders for… appointments to the Most Exalted Order of the British Empire…' The list included 'Brown, Major (acting) William Alexander, Special List (ex-Indian Army)'. Brown was knighted for having served the Empire. At the time, the entire hierarchy of the Indian and Pakistan Army were still British. In Pakistan, Sir Frank Messervy was commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army in 1947-48, and Sir Douglas Gracey served in 1948-51; while in India, the commander-in-chief was Sir Robert Lockhart (1947-48) and later Sir Roy Bucher (1948), and let us not forget that Sir Claude Auchinleck (later elevated to Field Marshal) served as the supreme commander (India and Pakistan) from August to November 1947. Who can believe that all these senior generals were kept in the dark by a junior officer like Maj Brown? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Western 'influence' or 'manipulation' continued in the following years and decades; the Americans soon entered the scene too. India and the Western Powers After China invaded northern India in 1962, Delhi decided to ask for the help of the Western nations, particularly the United States. The latter was only too happy to offer it and thus gain leverage over India, which until that time had been 'neutral and non-aligned'. Seeing northern India invaded by Chinese troops, it seemed logical that the United States would come to India's aid, but it turned out differently. Soon after the ceasefire declared by the Chinese on November 22, 1962, and instead of helping India, Great Britain and the United States decided that the time had come to resolve the Kashmir dispute between their Pakistani ally and India, now begging for help. Two days after the ceasefire, Averell Harriman, the US Under Secretary of State, and Duncan Sandys, the British Commonwealth Secretary, visited the two capitals of the subcontinent to persuade the 'warring brothers' that it was time to bury the hatchet and find a solution to the fifteen-year-old Kashmir question. Harriman and Sandys signed a joint communiqué and asked the two countries to resume negotiations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's invasion by China was forgotten. Delhi, in a position of extreme weakness, had doubts about the possibility of obtaining positive results from negotiations conducted under such circumstances, but Nehru did not refuse the 'offer'. On December 22, 1962, he wrote to the provincial chief ministers: 'I have to speak to you briefly on the Indo-Pakistan question, and particularly on Kashmir. In four days, Sardar Swaran Singh [the Minister of External Affairs] will lead a delegation to Pakistan to discuss these problems. We realise that this is not the right time to have a conference like this, as the Pakistani press has vitiated the atmosphere with insults and attacks directed against India. Nevertheless, we have agreed to go and will do our best to arrive at a reasonable solution.' The two delegations ultimately held a series of six meetings; nothing came of them. The first negotiations took place in Rawalpindi; Swaran Singh and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's foreign minister, limited themselves to a historical presentation of the problem and the reiteration of their respective points of view. During the talks, India reaffirmed that it wanted to explore all possibilities to resolve the issue, as it wanted to live in peace with Pakistan, which insisted that the UN resolutions of August 1948 and January 1949 must be implemented as soon as possible (without them vacating the occupied part of Hari Singh's kingdom). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The negotiations got off on a bad start: just before they began, the Pakistani government announced that it had reached an agreement in principle with China on its border issue. Just a month after the end of the Sino-Indian War, Pakistan was prepared to give China a piece of territory that India considered its own. What a slap in the face for India! Were the Western powers aware of the secret negotiations between Pakistan and China? Probably. It is indeed surprising that Pakistan, an ally of the United States and the Western world, chose this moment to make this announcement. It was proof that Pakistan expected nothing from the talks with Delhi. Negotiations on Kashmir continued between January 16 and 19, 1963, in Delhi and February 8 and 11 in Karachi, of course without any tangible results. Pakistan wanted a plebiscite, but India insisted on the prior demilitarisation of the regions occupied by Pakistan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Talks took place in Calcutta between March 12 and 14. India proposed some readjustments of the Line of Control, but these were rejected by Pakistan. During the fifth round of talks held in Karachi between April 22 and 25, India protested that Pakistan had ceded part of Kashmiri territory to China; there was no longer any chance of finding a negotiated solution to the Kashmir issue. During the sixth and final round of talks, India clarified that it had no intention of replacing a democratically elected government with an international organisation that it believed had no knowledge of local issues. India therefore rejected the proposals. Retrospectively, 63 years later, it is not surprising that in an interview with Sky News, when the interviewer Yalda Hakim questioned him about Pakistan's long history of backing, supporting and training terrorist organisations, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitted, 'Well, we have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, you know, and the West, including Britain.' India should indeed beware of some Western powers. The writer is Distinguished Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (Delhi). Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Hans India
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
We want partners, not preachers: EAM's dig at Europe
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday took a veiled swipe at Europe, stating that it is struggling to adapt to the evolving multipolar world order and that India is 'looking for partners, not preachers.' Jaishankar pointed out that Europe is having difficulty adjusting to the shifting global realities and must seriously reconsider its approach if it desires meaningful cooperation with India. 'When we look at the world, we look for partners, we don't look for preachers. Particularly, preachers who don't practice at home what they preach abroad. Some of Europe is still struggling with that problem. Europe has entered a certain zone of reality check. Whether they can step up or not is something we will have to see. If we have to develop a partnership, there must be some understanding, sensitivity, mutuality of interest and a realisation of how the world works,' Jaishankar said at the Arctic Circle India Forum 2025 in New Delhi. He also noted that the United States has become more self-sufficient in recent times. 'We have now reached a size and a stage where almost anything consequential that happens in any corner of the world matters to us. The United States is much more self-sufficient today than it has been in a long time. Europe is today under pressure to change. The realities of multipolarity are dawning on it. I think it has still not adjusted and absorbed it fully. The US has dramatically changed positions. The Chinese are doing what they were doing. We are going to see an arena of contestation, which is not going to be easy to recall. We are looking at a much more contested world, much sharper competition,' Jaishankar said. At the forum, Jaishankar underscored India's increasing engagement in the polar regions, pointing out that the country has maintained a presence in Antarctica for over 40 years and has recently deepened its Arctic involvement through a dedicated policy and international partnerships. Highlighting the Arctic's strategic and environmental significance, he stressed that the region's developments will have far-reaching global implications, especially for a youthful nation like India. 'We have had a growing involvement with the Arctic. We had an even earlier involvement with the Antarctic, which is now more than 40 years. We have come up a few years ago with an Arctic policy. We have agreements with KSAT on Svalbard, which is relevant to our space. As the country with the youngest people on this planet, what happens in the Arctic is of extreme importance to the direction in which things are moving, the consequences are going to be felt not just by us but by the entire world,' the Union Minister said.
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'I'm a Russia & America realist…': Jaishankar's blunt take on engagement with Moscow, Trump's USA
Speaking at the Arctic Circle India Forum 2025, EAM Dr S Jaishankar said, "There's a Russia realism that we have have always felt that there is a need to engage Russia...I am an advocate of Russian realism, and I am also an advocate of American realism. I think the best way to engage today's America is also through finding mutuality of interest rather than putting ideological differences upfront and then allowing it to cloud the possibilities of working together..." Show more Show less
Indian Express
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘We look for partners not preachers': Jaishankar says Europe must show sensitivity to strengthen India ties
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 — 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.
