External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday called for “more innovative and participative diplomacy” and said the needle is moving towards the reality of negotiations rather than the continuation of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Jaishankar highlighted the increasing cost of oil, fertilisers and shipping etc. for several countries, including India, due to conflicts in the Gulf and the Mediterranean region.
He is visiting Doha to participate in the Doha Forum at the invitation of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of State of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman. He was addressing a panel along with the Qatari prime minister and Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
Mr Jaishankar said that diplomats have to tell themselves, it’s a messy world. “It’s terrible. There are conflicts, but therefore there’s all the more reason for diplomats of the world to step forward,” he said.
He also said the era of the 60s and the 70s when the UN Security Council or a few Western powers managed conflicts is “behind us,” adding that all countries need to step forward.
“I think this, there is a greater case for more vigorous diplomacy, for more innovative diplomacy, for a more participative diplomacy, and, and I think more countries need to have the boldness to bypass the West,” the former diplomat turned minister said.
When the anchor asked about India’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mr Jaishankar said, “The needle is moving more towards the reality of negotiation than the continuation of the war.” Describing how India is walking the talk, by going to Moscow, talking to President Vladimir Putin, going to Kyiv, engaging, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, transparently carrying messages to each others, Mr Jaishankar said India is trying to find “common threads” which can be picked up at some time.
He also said that India is articulating the sentiments and the interest of the Global South comprising 125 other countries who have found their fuel cost, their food cost, their inflation, their fertiliser costs impacted by this war.
“And, in the last few weeks and months, I’ve even seen this sentiment expressed by major European leaders, who are actually telling us, please keep engaging Russia and engaging Ukraine. So we do think that things are moving somewhere in that direction,” he added.
Mr Jaishankar also spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US president-elect Donald Trump.
Referring to Trump’s recent threats to BRICS about imposing 100 per cent tariff if those countries went ahead with BRICS currency, Mr Jaishankar said, “I am not exactly sure what was the trigger for it but we’ve always said that India has never been for de-dollarisation. Right now, there is no proposal to have a BRICS currency.” He also explained how countries in BRICS don’t have an identical position on the issue.
Answering a question if India has a role to play in Russia, China, North Korea and Iran forming an anti-American, anti-westernism axis, Mr Jaishankar said: “Every country has its interests. They agree on some, they disagree on some. Sometimes the same countries work in different combinations in different issues.” “The reality is much more complicated, much more granular,” he said at the panel discussions as part of the 22nd edition of the Doha Forum on the theme ‘The Innovation Imperative.’ As per its website, Doha Forum is a global platform for dialogue, bringing together leaders in policy to discuss critical challenges facing the world, and to build innovative and action-driven networks.
Under the banner ‘Diplomacy, Dialogue, Diversity’, Doha Forum promotes the interchange of ideas and discourse towards policy making and action-oriented recommendations.
“In a world where borders are porous, our challenges and solutions are also interlinked,” it says on the home page.
