India’s top diplomat on Wednesday expressed the need for India, as the biggest country in the region, to reach out to her neighbours and make them feel secure.
S Jaishankar, the country’s foreign secretary made this remark while briefing journalists at a gathering on Wednesday evening in Delhi.
We have to reach out to our neighbours, we have to offer them terms of engagement that are attractive to them. As biggest country of region, we have to go the extra mile, we’ve to reach out to our neighbours, we have to make them feel secure.S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary
In a briefing that outlined India’s relations with all of its neighbours, the Foreign Secretary also mentioned the status of India’s relations with Pakistan. Here are some key points made by Jaishankar:
- In last two years, you have seen a great effort on our part to reach out to Pakistan
- Problem is that the terrorism issue has become so central to the relationship that it makes the relationship difficult to grow.
- At times, domestic politics of our neighbours pose challenges. We’ve learnt to be patient.
- We have one standout country in the region which has a different view of terrorism which makes it a difficult partner for all of us.
- Looking at the neighbourhood, we clearly face a unique challenge in respect to one country which is Pakistan.
Jaishankar’s remarks comes hours after India agreed to his visit to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart on cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
Since the Kashmir issue is now central to diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Ministry has “proposed discussions between the Foreign Secretaries be focussed on cross-border terrorism,” sources said.
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