External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar is convinced that the Trump administration’s move towards multipolarity is something that suits India.
He also said that many priorities of the new U.S. President “work for us.”
Trump Administration Moving Towards Multipolarity
“Conceptually, I think, we see a President and administration which in our parlance, is moving towards multipolarity. That is something which suits India. What is quite clear is that the U.S. own self perception is now more as a nation and perhaps a little as as a bloc.”
Jaishankar who has been India’s Ambassador to the United States made this point when Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive of British think tank, Chatham House, asked him as to what he makes of the first 41 days of the new foreign policy of the U.S. and if it is good for India and the world.
New Foreign Policy Of U.S.
Jaishankar replied after a reflective pause, “Uh, well, it is interesting,’’ to a roar of laughter from the distinguished audience.
He added, “ Some of it, I must say in all honesty is not surprising. Is it good for India? In many ways, I would say Yes! My Prime Minister was in Washington about two weeks back and I was accompanying him. I was there for the Presidential inauguration. When I look at India’s interests and expectations of the relationship, I think that there is a lot of promise I see there.”
India Hails Trump’s Commitment To Keeping Energy Prices Reasonable
The External Affairs Minister went on to say that India welcomes Trump’s apparent commitment to keeping energy prices reasonable, affordable and stable, emphasis on use and development tech as a game changer in global politics. “I think, that offers a lot of possibilities for us,” he said while dwelling upon some of Trump’s big priorities.
Trump’s Openness To Connectivity Initiatives
Jaishankar added that India is deeply interested in Trump’s openness to connectivity initiatives of a certain collaborative nature. “ And of course, he has a certain view of trade as you may have noticed. We had a very open conversation about it and the result of that conversation was that we agreed on the need for a bilateral trade agreement and our Trade Minister in fact is in Washington doing exactly that right now.’’
India’s Hassle- Free Ties With American Presidents
The minister added, “If we look at our own relationship, politically, we have not had any issues with American Presidents, at least in recent times. There is no baggage which we carry or burden that the relationship carries. From President Trump’s perspective, the one big shared enterprise is the Quad. That is a good model which works and which was restarted during President Trump’s first term.”
He said that that most of the time, political leaders at least do much of what they promise to do. “They don’t always succeed or they do not always get what they want. As a general principle, when political forces or political leaders have an agenda and particularly if it is one which they have developed over a fairly long period of time and been very articulate and passionate about it, then I think that much of what we have seen and heard over the last few weeks was to be expected. So, I am a little surprised that people are surprised.
Talks On FTA With U.K.
Talking about the Free Trade Agreement with U.K, ” I think, some progress has been made in the negotatiatons. These are serious negotiations and you don’t do it in a hurry or frivolously.”
He added that he is cautiously optimistic that the negotiations will pick pace. ” It is hard to say when it will come to head but I certainly would hope that it does not take that long. If we do actually conclude the FTA, it will not just have an economic or trade impact. It will have a large relationship impact. People will be encouraged to explore other possibilities. We have had a British university actually open a campus in India. That is a big deal. When you have something momentous happen in a relationship, you will have a ripple impact in a whole lot of other sectors. We are considering making some significant changes to our nuclear policy including amending our liability legislation and also contemplating the possibility of private sector operators in the nuclear field. That is also a potential area of collaboration. Many of them are waiting to happen. Something like an FTA will provide that tailwind.”
Asked to identify stumbling block, Jaishankar said, ” There is no stumbling block. Pretty much, everything I have read about FTA in the Press is inaccurate. These are painstaking negotiations because these are serious commitments which are being made. These will have economic consequences on the lives of people in a way. So, there is a sense of responsibility with which negotiators go about their business.”
India Trying To Develop Big And Not So Big Relationships
When the Chatham House Director asked how India would position itself, Jaishankar said that India’s endeavour at least in the last decade has been to develop the big and not so big relationships. “ In each case, it has to be customized and assessed. If we can do that successfully with all the major powers and groupings, that actually puts you in a much better situation in world which is moving towards multi polarity. Today, if you have many more centres of decision-making, many more sources of influence, many more discussions with multiple players to really address any situation, that is a kind of world and the country which has the maximum flexibility and the least problems is obviously better off in that world and that is our endeavour.’’
Distortions Related To Energy Trade
Jaishankar said that one issue which in a sense has been distorted is the whole energy trade. “The fact is that after 2022, you did not want the Ukraine conflict to trigger a global energy crisis. We did want to see global inflation which meant that somebody had to buy Russian oil if the oil markets had to be kept at a reasonable price. I think, there was an understanding about the need for that and I remind people that was one of the reason that there was a very conscious decision not to mix that trade with sanctions.”
How Would India Like BRICS TO BE?
Asked what would India like BRICS to be, Jaishankar said, “Some things are no so easily defined and BRICS is one. I couldn’t put an ideological label to BRICS which is a very diverse group. What got BRICS members together is the sense among very major powers that they wee not getting their due share of global conversations.Last year in Kazan, we also added dialogue partners. The group has grown. Yes, we do discuss economic issues. We also discuss political issues. It is not like we don’t.”
