At a virtual event hosted by Australia’s Lowy Institute on Wednesday, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke with the institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Michael Fullilove, and discussed a wide range of topics, including India’s place in the world, its relations with China, the recently reconstituted ‘Quad’ grouping, COVID-19, and the future of India’s relations with Australia. Here are some key takeaways from the conversation:
On the impact of COVID-19 on India, and the country’s road to recovery:
Jaishankar said that, much like the rest of the world, the “enormity” of the crisis brought on by COVID-19 took India by complete surprise and admitted that the country was not prepared for it. “We had no ability to respond”, he said, noting that at the time, the country had no local PPE, N95, or ventilator producers. However, he credited the government for its swift response by being one of the first nations to impose an extensive lockdown and said that it helped the country “buy some time” to set up a response system.
The minister said that the country now has 15,000 nation-wide COVID centres, companies are making and exporting PPEs and ventilators, and research efforts are underway to reduce the time needed to test for COVID-19. He also stressed that India’s ability to scale up the production of vaccines (once they become available) will also be very beneficial. Labelling the experience as one filled with “self-discovery”, the minister also said that digital platforms played a crucial role in response efforts, not just in terms of contact tracing, but also for providing relief and assistance directly to the people in need.
In terms of recovery, Jaishankar said that the country has been moving towards economic normalcy, with many industries now operating at pre-COVID levels. However, he noted that the informal sector (most notably the service sector) will take some time to bounce back, because of ongoing COVID restrictions like social distancing. However, he said that the country was optimistic about ending the financial year in a better place than it was during the peak of the pandemic and stated that India would hit the 8% growth mark in the coming year.
On India’s relationship with China:
When asked about India’s relationship and engagement with China, Jaishankar noted that despite a positive trajectory in bilateral relations across various sectors over the last two decades, Beijing’s recent actions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) had “significantly damaged” their relationship, which he said is now at its “lowest point” in the last 30-40 years.
“We are very clear that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the LAC is the basis for the rest of the relationship to progress. You can’t have the kind of situation you have on the border and say let’s carry on with life in all other sectors of activity. It’s just unrealistic,” he said.
He added that national sentiment had changed significantly after deadly border clashes resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, and the biggest issue now was about getting the relationship back on track. The foreign minister claimed that China had provided “five differing explanations” for deploying large forces along the border and stressed that it is not a matter of inconsistent communication between the two sides, given that the countries were engaging in dialogue through multiple diplomatic and military channels.
“We have multiple layers of communication. Communication is not the issue; the issue is the fact that we have agreements, and those agreements are not being observed”.
Jaishankar also spoke about the evolution of China and Xi Jinping’s ascent to power. “I think there has been an evolution in China, and 2008-09 was the tipping point for that change. And you have today a China whose engagement with the world is very different from the way it used to be conducted 20 years ago,” he said.
“Now you could argue that it is natural as (when) a country goes up the power hierarchy that its behavioural pattern would change, I reserve comment on it, but clearly no question that you have a very much more nationalistic China and that is expressed sort of down the line in a variety of ways and often in policies as well,” he added.
On India-US ties under Biden:
Speaking about the nature of US-India ties under the incoming Biden administration, Jaishankar said that president-elect Joe Biden has demonstrated goodwill for India throughout his career and contributed to the growth and strengthening of bilateral ties. The minister also said that the relationship will continue to evolve, given India’s increasingly prominent role in the multipolar world order, and said that the US must be more conscious that it needs more partners beyond its formal alliance structures.
On India-Australia relations:
Against the backdrop of the Malabar joint naval exercises last month by members of the “Quad”, Jaishankar was asked about his assessment of the Indo-Australian relationship. He said that it was one he took most satisfaction in, because of the potential the two nations had to “shape the world order and secure global commons”.
“It’s time to think beyond the P5,” he said, arguing that a new space had opened up for nations to engage and contribute to the world system and that India and Australia will have an important role to play there.
He also attributed the close ties between New Delhi and Canberra to common interests and deeply shared values, calling the two countries “cricket-playing, commonwealth democracies”, and stated that he hoped for strong trade cooperation—through free trade agreements—to complement the countries’ already robust defence ties.
“There is a discussion on a free trade agreement, a bilateral free trade agreement [with Australia] as well because, as you know, we didn’t sign the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership),” the minister said. However, he noted that despite its decision to stay out of the regional deal, India considered global economic engagement vital, but was also certain that it wanted to get its terms of engagement right. “Global engagement does not mean you blindly enter agreements…. We must negotiate our interests well,” he said.
FULL RECAP: Indian MEA S. Jaishankar in Conversation with Lowy Institute
The Indian foreign minister spoke about India’s ties with China and the US, its COVID-19 response, and the future of Indo-Australia relations.
December 10, 2020
SOURCE: LOWY INSTITUTE