Article 370 Continued For Over 70 Years Due To 'Politics Of The Day': Jaishankar

Jaishankar talked about the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and said that the temporary provision to Jammu and Kashmir continued for more than 70 years due to the "politics of the day"

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday talked about the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and said that the temporary provision given to Jammu and Kashmir continued for more than 70 years due to the "politics of the day". "Other than politics of the day what was the reason for a temporary provision to continue so long?" he remarked.

"It is important to put the national interest first. Politics of the day should not hamper the larger interest of the nation. All politicians should have that approach in the first place," he said at IIM Calcutta, adding that "politics of the day should not lead our borders to be vulnerable", news agency ANI reported.

Trade, Debt, And Even Tourism Are Being Weaponised As Points Of Pressure: Jaishankar

Prior to this, addressing the students at IIM Calcutta, the minister spoke about the Ukraine conflict and pointed out that it has dramatically widened the scope of political leveraging, in which trade, debt, and even tourism are being weaponised as points of pressure.

He said that a larger change today is underway in international affairs which is important to comprehend. "This emanates from the weaponisation of everything. In recent years, we have already seen, how trade, connectivity, debt, resources, and even tourism have become the point of political pressure. The Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of such leveraging," Jaishankar said on the topic of "India and the World", as quoted by ANI. 

"The scale of measures, technology control, infrastructure and service restrictions and seisure of assets, has truly been breathtaking. At the same time, it is also a fact, that global rules and practices have been gamed for national advantage, in a manner that can no longer be overlooked," he added. 

Globalised Era Is A "Double-Edged World": Jaishankar

According to the External Affairs Minister, the globalised era is a "double-edged world" as it is hard to separate the vulnerabilities from the dependence or the risks from the benefits. 

"The very mobility that brought Covid to our homes was otherwise such an enormous source of livelihood for so many. The supply chains which created disruption when they did not function, were a boon when they did," he said.

The Minister also spoke about diplomacy as he mentioned that the benchmark for successful diplomacy is that Indian consumer pays less money for petrol and the farmers are assured of fertiliser at the right time.

Jaishankar said, "Diplomacy is a bread and butter issue. At the end of my day, say today, I have made sure that an Indian consumer is paying less for petrol at the petrol pump, an Indian farmer is assured of fertiliser at the right time, an Indian household is getting its food and cooking oil at the right price, to me these are really my benchmark of what is successful diplomacy." 

 Speaking about the Vande Bharat mission, Jaishankar mentioned how India brought back 7 million plus Indians during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this was made possible as India utilises global workplace effectively. It is due to the fact that our talents and skills are now an intrinsic element of global innovation, he stressed, as per ANI.

(With Agency Inputs)