New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in United Kingdom concerning India’s approach on China and said “when Panda huggers attempt to be China hawks… it would not fly”.
“I am troubled as a citizen of India when I see somebody drooling over China and being dismissive about India… When Panda huggers try to be China hawks… it doesn’t fly,” Jaishankar stated on the India Today conclave in response to questions on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks.
The External Affairs Minister’s response got here days after Rahul Gandhi stated at in a dialog with members of the Indian Journalists’ Association in London that Jaishankar “doesn’t understand China threat”.
Panda is bear species endemic to China and the nation has previously indulged in Panda diplomacy to foster friendships.
Rahul Gandhi had additionally alleged that authorities had not totally understood the import of China’s actions on the border. During his UK go to, the Congress chief additionally stated that ‘concord’ was a key concept for the Chinese as they’d seen many conflicts and confronted inside turmoil.
“Rahul Gandhi talks admiringly of China and describes the country as ‘harmony’, he says China is the greatest manufacturer and says ‘Make in India’ won’t work’. You can have a point of view about a country, but you should not undermine the national morale,” Jaishankar stated in a pointy counter to Rahul Gandhi.
He stated Rahul Gandhi’s one-word description of China is “harmony” and that of India is “discord.”Jaishankar was additionally requested about Opposition allegations that the federal government was not being sincere in regards to the scenario on the China border.
“These are the same opponents who said let us leave the border undeveloped so that the Chinese can’t come in,” the minister stated.
He additionally spoke about Quad which incorporates Australia, India, Japan and the United States took potshots on the UPA authorities over its stance in regards to the strategic safety dialogue.
” Do you remember that the first time we tried the Quad was in 2007 and do you remember what happened to that Quad and How much we stood up to China at that point of time? So, what’s the difference? Today, you have a Quad because this government has frankly the guts to stand up on Quad, (in) 2007 we didn’t, we buckled. Coming to Quad, I would say, this is not about statements because somebody explicitly mentioned a country or not. It shouldn’t really be seen through a prism of treaties and alliances. To my mind, that’s an old thing. This is a different Quad …treaties and alliances are part very much part of post-Second World War, Cold War kind of framework,” Jaishankar stated.
He stated the worldwide scenario requires international locations with converging pursuits, who’ve a substantial amount of consolation with one another.
“Working together in an area or domain where they find themselves comfortable. In the case of Quad, that happens to be primarily the Indo-Pacific and then developing what we call habits of cooperation,” he stated”I think, if you see, from the time Quad was revived…It took a decade for it to be revived…it started at the Foreign Secretaries level, I happened to be FS at that time. In 2019, it became Foreign Minister’s level, I happened to be FM at that time too and in 2021, it met at Prime Minister’s/President’s level,” he added.
Jaishankar stated Quad agenda is rising, and every assembly is definitely broadening the areas of cooperation.
“I feel it is moving well, precisely because it is flexible, nimble, creative, gets top attention. What, I would not like to see is becoming bureaucratic, and rigid, where it becomes legalistic, and people spend more time quarrelling about — does this confirm that article or not. That’s not the way we are thinking at all,” he stated. (ANI)