External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India must consider terrorism as serious when it impacts other countries, otherwise the nation will lose its credibility. He said that New Delhi takes a strong position on terrorism because “we are big victims of terrorism”.
“Today, a good government and strong governance stand up for its people. Just as good governance is necessary at home, right judgements are necessary abroad,” he said while speaking at a Town hall in Bhopal on Oct 28.
The foreign minister said that India “will have no credibility if we say that when terrorism impacts us, it’s very serious; when it happens to somebody else, it’s not serious”.
His comments came amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has escalated tensions across West Asia, with fears of spillover in the region. He didn’t directly mention Israel war, but his remarks can be seen as a veiled reference to it.
India hasn’t officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation, unlike several Western nations, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi labelled the Oct 7 assault as “terrorist attacks”.
Jaishankar’s remarks came at a time when New Delhi abstained from a UN resolution that did not condemn Hamas terror attacks. He also said that India needs to take a “consistent position” on terrorism.
The Jordanian-led draft resolution was adopted by the General Assembly, with 120 votes in favour.
A total of 14 were against it and there were 45 abstentions. The 45 nations that abstained from voting on the resolution included Iceland, India, Panama, Lithuania and Greece.
The foreign minister also mentioned other significant stances on various external affairs. He argued that good governance is not necessary only at home, but also abroad.
Talking about the Russia-Ukraine war and India’s decision to buy oil from Moscow, he said, “I know there was a lot of attention that we took a strong stance about our right to buy oil from Russia.”
“But I want you to think, had we cowered before the pressure, had we not exercised this option, think how much higher would have been the price of the petroleum products. Think how much higher inflation would have gone up in the country,” he said.
Watch: JPMorgan’s bleak outlook: War’s toll on Israel’s economy
Jaishankar on India’s image globally
Jaishankar also talked about how India’s image has changed across the globe. He said, “So, how do you have a government that stands for what is necessary and in the best interest of its people?”
Hye said, “A strong government and good government are two sides of one coin. In the last few decades, India’s image in the world has changed a lot. The way we handled the pandemic when developed nations were too stressful; as some had a totally collapsed public health response. We made, ‘Made in India’…’Invent in India’ vaccine, we had a COWIN platform as well.”
“Similarly, when every other country looks after the welfare of its people and its economic interests, the same countries in Europe are saying don’t buy oil from Russia; they were themselves taking it and they made such a schedule that impacts their own population in the least possible way,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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