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In his address at a book launch here, Jaishankar also said for any country in the world, neighbours are “always a conundrum”, and so are “major powers”.
Major powers will be a conundrum because they are major, because of the breadth of their interests. They will always have an agenda, which will overlap with us, but to differing degrees, also diverge, he said.
In the case of China, you have a “double conundrum”, because it’s a neighbour and a major power. So, the challenges with China fits this double definition, he added.
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Jaishankar also said there is debate in the neighbourhood about SAARC and BIMSTEC, and “all of you know the difference”.
That is a contrast which illustrates some of the challenges and opportunities of “regionalisation”, he said.
“The real issue is that of overlapping identities versus forging new ones. So, everywhere there is history at play, but there is politics that often contests history and this in a way is a perennial challenge for India’s relationships with all its neighbours,” Jaishankar said.
On India’s relations with Pakistan, he said, “I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences, and in so far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think (Article) 370 is done. So, the issue today is what kind of relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan.” “What I do want to say is that we are not passive, and whether events take a positive or negative direction, either way we will react,” he added.
On India’s ties with Afganistan, Jaishankar said there is actually a “strong people-to-people relations”, at the societal level, adding there is a certain goodwill for India.