Chennai, Jan 2 (PTI) Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday underlined the importance of sustained and transparent communication with other countries to ensure India’s intentions are not misread.
Interacting with students during a fireside chat at IIT Madras, Jaishankar said, “How to prevent people from misreading you is to communicate. If you communicate well, clearly and honestly, other countries and other people respect it and accept it.”
Highlighting India’s civilisational confidence, he said many nations take pride in their culture and heritage, and India has every reason to do so. “There are really very few ancient civilizations which have survived to become major modern nation-states, and we are one of them,” he said, adding that India’s conscious choice of democracy shaped the idea of democracy as a universal political concept. “Had we not gone that way, the democratic model, as we know it, would have been regional and narrow,” he noted.
Jaishankar stressed that partnerships with the West are important in shaping the global order. He said nations progress by strengthening themselves domestically and then engaging with the world to both contribute and benefit.
Referring to India’s worldview, he said, “When we say ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, the term is we have never considered the world as an inimical or hostile place from which we have to defensively protect ourselves.”
With limited resources, he said, diplomacy must focus on maximising impact. “What we try to do in Indian foreign policy today is solve that problem… partly using our competitiveness and strengths and leveraging other institutions and possibilities,” he added.
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