The External Affairs Minister of India, Subramaniam Jaishankar, on April 2, 2024, targeted the Jawaharlal Nehru and claimed that past mistakes were responsible for the problems such as Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and occupation of some parts of the Indian territory by China.
Referring to India’s stand, the when it was offered a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, he claimed that there was a time when Nehru, the first Prime Minister said India second, China first.
Speaking at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry here, Jaishankar was replying to the question that whether India should reconcile itself with the status of the POJK and Indian territories occupied by China or work to get them back.
Notably in the last few days, the BJP leaders have also targeted past Congress government under PM Nehru and Indira Gandhi overt the ceding of the island of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.
“In 1950, the then Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had warned Nehru about China. Patel told Nehru that today for the first time we are facing a situation on two fronts Pakistan and China which India had never faced earlier. Patel told Nehru that he does not believe what the Chinese are saying as their intentions seem different and we should take precautions, the minster said.
“Nehru replied to Patel that you are unnecessary suspicious of the Chinese. Nehru also said it is impossible for anyone to attack us from Himalayas. Nehru was totally dismissive of China’s threat,” Jaishankar said adding to that everyone knew what happened subsequently.
Not only that when the debate of a permanent seat of the UNSC came and it was being offered to us, Nehru’s position was we deserve the seat, but first China should get it. We at present are following an India first policy but there was a time when Nehru said India second China first.
Patel was not in favour of taking the Kashmir Issue to the UN as he knew the mentality of the judge there. “If you know that the judge is partial, would you go and seek justice from him? But that’s what happened, the issue was taken to UN immediately and a lot of pressure came to stop the military action and exercise to reclaim POJK,” he said, adding today “we have ended up in these situations due to mistakes of the past.”
“Today when we talk of boundaries, the some say we re-write our boundaries. Our boundaries are still our boundaries we should never ever doubt that,” the EAM said. “In the last ten years, the Union Government has tried to deal with many issues inherited from the past, adding that it has been successful in finding solutions to some of them and while some more issues take time.”
In the case of Kashmir, we have a Parliament Resolution regarding POJK and everyone has to respect it. Jaishankar said, adding that it was important to seek answers about our positions today but it was also important to look at the mistakes of the past.
In 1950, there was an exchange of views between #SardarPatel and Nehru
Sardar Patel had warned Jawaharlal #Nehru about #China
Nehru replied to Patel that you are unnecessarily suspicious of the Chinese
A few years later there was a debate about the #UN, should India be given… pic.twitter.com/VShvW7IOPg
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) April 3, 2024
Earlier, giving a lecture at the GCCI on International Policy and Catalyst of Viksit Bharat, Jaishankar said for the development of any economy five factors are crucial: production, consumption, technology logistics and demography. Foreign Policy can play a crucial role in taking domestic industries to other countries, getting crucial technology, creating logistics and connectivity for business.
Some key takeaways of PM Modi’s last visit to the US were that after almost forty years the US agreed to give India a jet engine technology, three firms making semiconductor chips agreed to establish plants in India, Jaishankar noted. “It was when PM Modi put this forward to US president Joe Biden, it could materialize,” he said.
India was working with the friendly countries to create new business corridors and the proposed India, UAE, Saudi Arabia to Europe Corridor is one of them. India’s top priority was exports and Indian businesspersons can take help from the country’s embassies in foreign nations to increase exports. The minister also said that Indian diaspora is the country’s greatest asset.
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