Vajpayee’s diplomatic creativity should be applied in Indo Pacific: EAM Jaishankar

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday falls on Saturday, December 25. The day is celebrated as Good Governance Day.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday (December 24) hailed former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foreign policy leadership and said his "diplomatic creativity" is today most suitable for the Indo Pacific.

"Today, the winds of change are most apparent in the Indo-Pacific. It is there that the diplomatic creativity which Prime Minister Vajpayee inspires should be most strongly applied," Dr Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture.

He said Vajpayee's stewardship in foreign policy was witnessed in pursuing new dynamics with the US and his handling of other players such as Pakistan, Russia and China.

"Where the United States was concerned, Prime Minister Vajpayee introduced policy corrections that reflected the end of the Cold War and the new global balance," the External Affairs Minister said. 

At the same time, he said Late Vajpayee kept India's course steady vis-à-vis Russia "despite the turbulence of that era".

"With China, whether as Foreign Minister or as Prime Minister, he sought a modus vivendi that was based as much on mutual respect as on mutual interest. With Pakistan, he strenuously tried to dissuade them from their path of sponsoring cross-border terrorism," he said.

Dr Jaishankar further said, all this, of course, was underpinned by his belief that India must develop deeper strengths at home. "This found expression in the exercise of the nuclear option as it did in the economic modernization that he presided over."

The Minister said as of contemporary settings, "We are looking at a complex set of transformations that are simultaneously underway. The Indo-Pacific is witnessing both multipolarity and rebalancing. It is seeing great power competition as well as 'middle power plus' activities."

Thus, he said the orthodox politics, including territorial differences, are in sharper play, side-by-side with currencies of power like connectivity and technology.

 "In fact, no other landscape illustrates better the widening of our definition of national security". Dr Michael Fullilove of Lowy Institute delivered this year's Vajpayee Memorial lecture.

Speaking about Dr Fullilove, the External Affairs Minister, said, "in many ways, he has been the voice of Australia on the key strategic debates underway, especially relating to the Indo-Pacific. He writes prolifically and I would particularly recommend his 'Rendezvous with Destiny'."

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday falls on Saturday, December 25. The day is celebrated as Good Governance Day.