India-US: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said India has its own issues when it comes to trade tariffs — an issue that has become severely contentious with the US under the Donald Trump administration — even as he understands where the United States President is coming from when he calls out India for being the “biggest tariff abuser”. 


“We have our issues … I can see he (Trump) has his concerns … Because you’re a realist doesn’t mean you don’t have beliefs and convictions and feelings. They coexist. I do think he’s a very strong nationalist and in pursuit of his nationalist goals he’s very realist about many parts of the world,” Jaishankar told Financial Times in an interview, adding that India and the US will sign a trade deal within the year.


On Trump being called “unpredictable” and “transactional”, the External Affairs Minister said, “The moment you become predictable, you’ve handed something over to the other side.” 


Jaishankar, who has been India’s foreign minister since 2019, added, “I’m a realist… I don’t conduct foreign policy by saying it could have been this or I wish we could go back or I wish it didn’t happen. It’s happened.”


Speaking about the rules-based order promoted by the West, he said, “If we don’t have an order then you are looking at a very anarchic world… very Hobbesian.” However, he also said that the order laid down by the West was more in their favour, and redolent of the post World War II era. The order, he said, should reflect the realities of today’s world.


“Unrestrained competition would add to the stresses and in some way constrain the benefits. No question there should be an order. (India wants) something more than evolutionary but which is comfortable and steady… The rules were weighted in favour of the west,” he told FT. 


Defending the US President’s “transactional” approach, the External Affairs Minister said, “Transactional has become pejorative… At the end of the day, we all do transactions. I do it because that’s what all of us do. I’m on record to say I have beliefs. I’m more comfortable with some countries than others. I’m not against transaction, but I’m not an advocate of being purely transactional.” 


On being asked what he thought about Henry Kissinger, who had praised Jaishankar before he passed away, Jaishankar said he “profoundly disagreed” with the top American diplomat and also criticised him for being close to Beijing.


Adding that likening him to Kissinger is “not necessarily a compliment” due to the role he played during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War — when the US took Pakistan’s side — Jaishankar said, “When you are over-invested in any relationship, it clouds your judgment.” 


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Relationship With China ‘Hasn’t Gone Well’ 


On India’s bilateral relationship with China, the External Affairs Minister once again reiterated that it “hasn’t gone well” and sought to highlight Beijing’s belligerence during the 2020 border standoff.


He once again reiterated India’s stance that, unless there is peace and tranquility in the border areas, it cannot be business as usual between Delhi and Beijing.


“You can’t have a bad situation on the border and then a good situation in the relationship … People make out as though there is something very difficult or profound that I have said. To me it’s common sense,” he said, when asked about India’s improving relations with China.


On Trump’s plans to sign a trade deal with China, and if that will spell trouble for India, he said, “Life is full of what-ifs … Sometimes they happen. Many times they don’t. You don’t spend life worrying about what-ifs. You spend your life preparing for what-ifs.”


Jaishankar also described the Quad — of which India is a member along with the US, Japan and Australia — as a “club” with no “legal contractual obligation”.
“You have comfort, you have commonalities. It’s more like a club. You don’t have legal contractual obligations with other members but it’s a gathering place… The treaty-based concepts are typical of the old order. The new order is something more flexible,” he told FT.