Jaishankar pitches for international relations with Indian characteristics

Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar pitched for shaping international relations with Indian characteristics stressing the need for devoting more time to look at Indias reservoir of culture and knowledgeHe was speaking in Pune on Saturday during the International Relations Conference on Indias Strategic Culture Addressing Global and Regional Challenges organised by an educational instituteThe question I have is to develop an Indian strategic culture if we are to create international relations with Indian characteristics is it not necessary that we actually devote more time attention and energies to look at our reservoir of culture knowledge history and traditions he askedThe minister who had a long diplomatic career buttressed the point citing his interaction with his American peers about Afghanistan years agoI found that even after 20 years of being in Afghanistan so much of the American understanding about that country was moulded by what was the British narrative of Afghanistan I actually asked them does it occur to you have you ever thought why Peshawar is where it is Was the Durand line actually something because the British Colonial construct was there he askedDurand line is the international land border between Afghanistan and PakistanHe said people who spent their lifetime in Afghanistan had never heard of a figure like Hari Singh Nalwa the legendary Sikh warrior of Maharaja Ranjit Singhs empire Nalwa was the commanderinchief of the Sikh army along its border with AfghanistanAnd that tells you something It tells you that they have looked at geography from one cultural lens Unless we are able to put our lens in place they will never look at it in a way in which it will serve our interest Jaishankar saidHe said Western intellectuals have no problem in accepting the 5000yearold unbroken Chinese history but many of them would not give that same privilege and understanding to India In fact an extreme example of that was Churchill himself who said that India was no more a country than an equator said the foreign ministerJaishankar also said that many equate westernism with modernismIn everyday life we use terms like Pyrrhic victory Gordian knots trojan horse These are not just used but we have universalised it in a way Generally intellectual concepts traditions and constructs are largely BritishThe thinkers whose names naturally come into your mind are Socrates and Plato In the case of European statesman people will quote Lord Palmerston on permanent interests but not remember that Kautilya said it several centuries before that he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever