Kolkata: Even as bilateral trade between India and China reaches new heights, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Tuesday emphasised that the border situation was still a “challenge”, and reminded Indian business houses that national security wasn’t a choice but an obligation.
He questioned why businesses were buying so much from China.
Speaking at an event in Kolkata Tuesday, the foreign minister said China violated multiple agreements in 2020 and brought a large number of forces to the border at a time when India was under Covid-induced lockdown.
“We responded by counter-deploying our forces. Then, we had a clash in Galwan. For four years now, we have been deployed ahead of our normal base and patrolling zones. It is a very abnormal deployment along the Line of Actual Control.”
Jaishankar said national security was of utmost importance and a challenge, and that no Indian citizen can and should disregard the security of our country. “We cannot carry on the rest of our lives saying that is not our concern. It is our concern. It’s our country. It’s our LAC, it is a challenge,” he asserted.
Urging Indian businesses to rethink which foreign countries they shake hands with, Jaishankar reminded them that national security wasn’t a choice but an obligation.
“Why is Indian business buying so much from China? Partly, you can say their manufacturing scale, their infrastructure efficiency, the subsidies they give… the nature of their economy gives them an advantage. But I urge all to think about it. Is it really good for the future of our country? Is it good for your own business to be dependent on some other source?”
The foreign minister added there was a big economic security debate underway in the world — in Europe and the US — over whether many core businesses must stay within the country.
“… That supply chain should be shorter. At least, it should be with some country which doesn’t mix business and politics. Someone with whom you don’t have a boundary dispute. This is a dilemma but the answer to this is not entirely in the hands of the government, a large part of it is in the decisions businesses have to make,” he said.
Speaking of the historical past, the minister reiterated the Narendra Modi government’s commitment to national security at all costs. “We’ve had a 1962 experience; it’s useful to remind ourselves of it because some people are in denial,” he said.
Jaishankar said Rajiv Gandhi’s 1988 visit to China “in some ways” was a key step in normalising ties, when the understanding was clear that the two countries would discuss boundary differences, but would also maintain peace and tranquility on the border.
“From 1988, there has been an evolution of ties. There have been issues, and I am not disputing that. What changed is what is happening on the border today. This government is very clear about national security obligations,” he said.
‘PoK is India’
Those living in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) were comparing their situation with those living in Jammu and Kashmir, the foreign minister said to a question how awareness and growing interest among citizens can often lead to “change”.
“They (those in PoK) are asking how people are progressing here today. And they know the sense of being under occupancy or being discriminated against or treated badly… any such comparisons would be preying on their minds.”
Amid applause from the audience, Jaishankar made it clear that PoK has always been India, it is India. He said there was not much discussion on the area while Article 370 was in force.
He recalled a time in the 1990s when pressure was put on India by the West during the P.V. Narasimha Rao government “when Parliament passed a resolution on Pok”. “After that… the public interest receded.”
Jaishankar said the abrogation of Article 370 triggered awareness among people and became a part of public discourse. He added that the temporary provision in the Constitution continued for too long and fuelled separatism, violence and terrorism. “People across the country today have actually become aware of our history. Of the mistakes made in the past,” he added.
Jaishankar also cited a “warning” by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, that a country’s interests should not be subjected to the scrutiny of those who may have their own agenda.
“… and the West had an interest. We were going to them like a judge. The judge was party to the whole dispute.” He added it was Jawaharlal Nehru who “pushed” for UN intervention, while Patel had his reservations.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: India has security interests in Pannun case, probing info given by US, says Jaishankar