S Jaishankar also referred to improved ties in the Gulf region.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India started the "Neighbourhood First" policy as its relations with other countries are not transactional. Mr Jaishankar in an exclusive interview to NDTV, talked about the diplomatic row with Canada and Maldives, the growing concern over China's influence in the world and several issues in international politics.
Top quotes from the big interview
- "Canada, for some years, has been giving space to extremists and terrorists in their politics. I believe this is a weakness in their politics. A lot of problems have happened there because of this. It should not have happened," S Jaishankar said on the diplomatic row between the two countries over the killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
- "India does not need to be scared of China and it has the capability and confidence to compete with the country. We are living in a competitive world and India should not assume that China will not try to influence its neighbours," S Jaishankar said on China's growing influence in India's neighbourhood.
- Mr Jaishankar explained the competitive world with an analogy and said, "This competition is natural. Which is why I use a sports analogy. In short, no one expects another team to go easy on you. Everyone tries to win. This is the mindset we need to have."
- Minister S Jaishankar, who has authored a new book 'Why Bharat Matters', said, "I consider Bharat a mindset, an approach, it encapsulates all the changes that have been going on in the country over the last few years."
- "What I think is, in terms of culture, self-confidence, delivery, our way of thinking, if you count it all, then if we have to describe the concept in short, the word Bharat conveys the message," he said, adding that "India is non-west but not anti-west."
- Speaking about the "Neighbourhood First" policy, S Jaishankar said, "Sri Lanka is an example of the neighbourhood policy... the world talked about Sri Lanka but India helped."
- He also referred to improved ties in the Gulf region, which he called India's "extended neighbourhood" and said, "Our ties with the United Arab Emirates have improved by leaps in 10 years (of the Narendra Modi government)."