During a recent discussion on India-US relations at the Carnegie Endowment office in Washington, DC, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the need for mutual respect and boundaries in international diplomacy, particularly between democracies.
In the conversation with Carnegie’s President Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar on October 1, when asked about US leaders commenting on India’s democracy, Jaishankar stated, “And my personal view, which I have shared with many counterparts, is, look, you have every right to comment. But I have every right to comment on your comment. So don’t feel bad when I do.”
It’s a Globalised World!
But Jaishankar understands that a country’s internal issues can have international implications in a globalised world. “The world is very globalised,” he noted. “As a result, the politics of any country doesn’t necessarily stay within the national boundaries of the country, adding that “Now, the United States, of course, makes a special effort to ensure it doesn’t. That’s part of how you’ve conducted your foreign policy over many years.”
“Foreign Interference Is Foreign Interference”
Jaishankar’s comments come amid ongoing discussions on the US-India relationship. He emphasised that foreign interference is a critical concern and stated that foreign interference is foreign interference. “But if you look at a state-to-state, government-to-government level, we think it’s important that democracies are mutually respectful. It cannot be that one democracy has a right to comment on another, and that’s part of promoting democracy globally,” he said.
“But when others do that, then it becomes foreign interference. Foreign interference is foreign interference, irrespective of who does it and where it is done,” he added.
