S Jaishankar At Raisina Dialogue 2020

Table of Contents

TOPICS

We make these big claims of being an actor in the connectivity space we don’t deliver.
Unfair & outdated observation.
142 connectivity projects in the different parts of the
53 of which have been completed, in the last 5 years.
Bangladesh- The pre-1965 road and rail connections which were disrupted, are all today restored.
We have connectivity projects underway in waterways and ports, in roads and rail.
Nepal- Whole set of roads have been completed recently. Change in Nepal’s electricity situation because of the transmission projects in the last five years.
Fuel pipeline project- Motihari-Amlekhgunj.
Sri Lanka- Rebuilding of the Sri Lankan rail network after their civil war was over, was really done by India.
Afghanistan- Whether it’s electricity transmission, whether it’s road networks, all of those have happened.
After the conference- I’m going to Niger to inaugurate a Convention Centre which we built in 14 months.
Largest convention centre in that part of the world.
In Africa- Hydel Projects in Sudan, Rwanda & DRC. We have sugar factories in
There was a time when we probably spoke more and did less. Today we are actually doing more than we speak.
India is a prisoner of its past image.
We have to leave that behind now.

Are we a bystander and an onlooker or are we going to be shaping what’s happening?
There are parts of the world where perhaps the stakes are less and the implications of it for the world are less.
But this is enormously important to us and therefore, it was natural for countries in the world, to talk to each other, to consult with each other.
Which is why we had a conversation as I did with many other

We have to get along with each other. That’s not a choice.
You will have issues as neighbours. But it’s vital for neighbours to reach understandings as a general principle.
Rarely in history have two powers who are neighbours actually gone up in the international order in approximately the same timeframe.

If we do an economic ranking- China is the number two in the world and India is number five or number six in the world.
We’d probably be two and three in next 2 decades.
Thus if you are going to be two and three and then you’re going to be neighbours. Then obviously reaching an understanding is very important.

All the major centres of power have hard fluctuations in their relationships. Russia-America, Russia-Europe, Russia –China etc.
But India and Russia is actually a standout relationship for its
Its because of 2 things- geopolitical understanding & strong
Sentiment should never be underestimated in international relations.

I don’t think we are under delivering on the relationship.
We usually focuses on where there are issues of difference.
If there are 10 things which we have positively about each other but the 11th one is not, we will hone in on that 11th thing in.
Today there is virtually no area of activity where India and the United States don’t work with each other.
It used to be a very G2G.
It is today our biggest B2B, there’s a high element of B2G.
There’s a T to T; tech to tech.
There’s a P2P, people to people.

Today India has 16 wide shipping agreements.
It has given naval equipment ships to 8 of its Indian Ocean
It has coastal surveillance radars in 6 of its countries.
It has done 7 HADR (Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief) operations in the last five years.