External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar warns foreign diplomats interfering in Indian politics

Geneva: Reacting strongly to the recent comments made by some foreign diplomats posted in India, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Friday said that the envoys and their leaders should also be prepared to hear India’s viewpoint about their country and the current political scene there. “I have no problems if people comment about our politics. But then, I think, in fairness, they should also be ready to hear my comments about their politics. So, how to get a more mutually respectful world, more equal.. Because everybody says that we are equal but they don’t actually behave like that. It is a bit like Animal Farm - some are more equal than others,” EAM Jaishankar said at an interaction with the Indian community in Geneva. The minister, who is on the last leg of his three-nation tour, was replying to a question on foreign diplomats in New Delhi frequently expressing their viewpoint about Indian politics. “Countries often practice abroad what they are sensitive to at home. So, whenever people do any such thing, they must also think about what would happen, if this happened in their own home. It is something that they should think about,” added EAM Jaishankar.

During the event organized by India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, the EAM also highlighted achievements and big initiatives of the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last 10 years. “Our high-speed road corridors in the last 10 years have increased eight times with 28 km of highways being added every day. From six metros in 2014, we have now 21. The port handling has doubled in this period and we are now building around seven to eight new airports every year. The infrastructure, something that has held us in the past, is now changing,” said Jaishankar.

The EAM then went on to give some more numbers to the audience, giving an indication of the progress being made back home. “From 387 Medical colleges 10 years ago, we have 706 now. The All India Medical Institutes have actually tripled from seven to 22. The higher secondary schools have grown with 60 per cent and school enrollments have more girls than boys. Whatever was the baseline of 2014 has actually doubled in the last 10 years. We have today the confidence and experience to do much better,” he added. The minister mentioned that poverty remains a “big challenge” even though 250 million people have come out of poverty since 2014. He also mentioned the setting up of 12 industrial zones across the country which would attract global manufacturing.

“In many cases, we are correcting historical shortcomings. Look at the Western coast of India, there are virtually no deep water ports along the entire Western coastline. Considering that so much of our shipping goes out to the Gulf and the Western world, it is something which is a prime need and yet was not addressed for so long. Now, we have plans to develop the whole port network,” the EAM stated. All of this, he remarked, requires hard work and doesn’t happen in a day. “There is a big debate in our country about manufacturing. There are people who ask why we are importing so much from China? Part of it is because we neglected manufacturing through the 1960s, 80s, 90s and even in the first decade of 2000. When did we have governments which actually made a major push on manufacturing? Yet, people come today and say that we need to find a fix as if this is something that you can do instantaneously. Some even say that we are incapable and should not even attempt it. Ask yourself, can you actually be a major power without manufacturing? Major power needs technology and nobody can develop technology without manufacturing. So, you have to build human resources, infrastructure, and have those policies because life is not that khatakhat, it is hard work,” he added. (IANS)

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