Assuming charge as external affairs minister for a second time consecutively, S. Jaishankar said India’s global identity will increase during the third Modi regime and added the ministry performed extremely well during the previous term.
Assuming charge of the ministry, Jaishankar told presspersons that the ministry became more people-centric during the past 10 years. “In the last decade, this ministry under the leadership of PM Modi has become a very people-centric ministry. You can see that in terms of our improved passport services, community welfare fund support that we give to Indians abroad," ANI reported quoting Jaishankar.
The minister added during the past 10 years, the ministry delivered on the G20 presidency and also took on the challenge of Covid. On whether India will attain a seat in the United Nations Security Council during this term, Jaishankar said, “I am fully confident that under PM Modi's leadership, the foreign policy of Modi 3.0 will be very successful. The influence of India has been steadily growing, not just in terms of our own perception but also what the other countries think. They feel that India is truly their friend and they have seen that in times of crisis, if there is one country that stands with the Global South, it is India.” He added, “We believe that under the leadership of PM Modi, India's identity in the world will definitely increase."
Also on border issues with India’s neighbours China and Pakistan, Jaishankar said a solution would be found. “As far as Pakistan and China are concerned, the relations with those countries and the problems are also different. Our focus with regard to China will be on finding a solution for the border issues, and with Pakistan, we would want to find a solution to the issue of years-old cross-border terrorism.”
Though foreign heads attended the swearing-in ceremony of the third Modi government, heads of China and Pakistan were not invited for the event despite India’s ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy. India was the victim of cross-border terrorism on Sunday too as LeT linked The Resistance Front attacked a bus of Hindu pilgrims, killing 10 persons and over 30 persons suffered injuries.
The India-China relationship is currently under a cloud of belligerence and mutual suspicion since April 2020 when border brawls broke out between soldiers of the two sides. India and China are locked in an intense military standoff where more than 1,30,000 troops from both sides are camped in inhospitable high-altitude areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).