India wasn’t taken into confidence on various aspects of the Doha deal inked between the US and therefore the refore the Taliban last year and the latest developments in Afghanistan will have “very, very significant consequences” for the region and beyond, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
He also said that the key concerns for India at this juncture included whether Afghanistan will have an inclusive government which Afghan soil isn’t used for terrorism against other states and therefore the remainder of the planet .
Speaking virtually at the annual leadership summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Thursday, Mr Jaishankar also suggested that India was in no hurry to deliberate on giving any recognition to the new dispensation in Kabul.
In an interactive session with former American ambassador Frank Wisner, the External Affairs Minister also said that the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan isn’t against any country and it shouldn’t be seen as some quite “ganging up” and a negatively driven initiative.
India and therefore the US are on an equivalent page on many issues concerning the recent developments in Afghanistan including apprehensions about the possible use of Afghan soil for terrorism.
“I think, to a point , we might all be justified in having levels of concern and to a point , i feel the jury’s still out. once I say levels of concern, you know, there are commitments which were made by the Taliban, at Doha, I mean, the US knows that best I mean, we weren’t taken into confidence on various aspects of that,” he said.
“So whatever, whether deal which was struck in Doha, I mean, one features a broad sense. But beyond that, you know, are we getting to see an inclusive government? Are we getting to see respect for the rights of girls , children, minorities?” he asked.
“Most important are we getting to see an Afghanistan whose soil isn’t used for terrorism against other states and therefore the remainder of the planet , I think, these are our concerns,” Mr Jaishankar added.
He said what had happened in Afghanistan, goes to “have very, very significant consequences for all folks , and that we are so on the brink of the region.”
The minister said that the key concerns were captured by a UN Security Council resolution in August which how those questions are addressed today remains an open question, which is why “I said the jury remains out”.
“If you inquire from me is that this the time to draw sharp conclusions, i might kind of take my time and study this with a particular degree of deliberation, because as I said, tons of this, whatever understandings, there have been, many of those aren’t known to the whole international community,” he added.
To another question on how India and therefore the US checked out things in Afghanistan, Mr Jaishankar said each side are on an identical page, at a principle level on many of the problems , particularly on the possible usage of Afghan soil for terrorism.
He said the difficulty figured in discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington last week.
“Again, look, there would be issues on which we might agree more, there would be issues on which we might agree less. Our experiences in some respects are different than yours (the US). You know, we’ve been victims of cross border terrorism ourselves from that region,” Mr Jaishankar said.
“And allow us to say that has shaped in some ways , our view of a number of the neighbours of Afghanistan. So now, how much, the US shares that view, and where is it that the US kind of makes its tactical compromises i feel that’s for the Americans to work out,” he said.
Asked whether it included a joint signal to Pakistan, he only said: “There are aspects that we share, and there are aspects where maybe our positions aren’t precisely the same.”
To a question on Quad and ways to manage the increase of Chinese power, Mr Jaishankar said the four-nation partnership isn’t against somebody.
“I think it’s extremely important to not be quite railroaded into some kind of negative discourse, which actually isn’t from our script, it’s somebody else’s script. and that i don’t think we should always fall for that. i feel we’d like to be positive,” he said.
On the question of the way to affect the increase of China, Mr Jaishankar said: “I would say, in some ways , those are bilateral choices that each one folks need to make, we each have a really substantial relationship with China.”
“And, in some ways , China being today is such an enormous player then salient within the international economy, i feel it’s natural that these relationships are quite unique. So what are my problems, or my opportunities wouldn’t be an equivalent as that for the US, or Australia, or Japan, or Indonesia or France,” he added.
Mr Jaishankar said it might vary for every country and added that the increase of China has had a really fundamental impact on the international order.
“So as participants within the international order, we’d like to assess that and answer that, within the light of our own interest. So i feel it’s kind of essential to seem normalise this conversation,” he said.
You know, this could not find yourself as if it’s some quite ganging up and a negatively driven event, i do not think that is the fair description of what’s a totally natural evolution of the international order to my mind,” he added.
