Striving for ties built on mutual respect, interest: EAM on China

External affairs minister S Jaishankar has noted that India is striving to have a relationship with China that is built on mutual sensitivity, respect and interest, but asserted that the betterment of the Indo-Pacific is a shared objective of New Delhi and Washington, amid Beijing's aggression in the region.

"We continue to strive for a relationship with China, but one that is built on mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest," Jaishankar told a group of Indian reporters on Wednesday, as he concluded his four-day visit to Washington and held talks with top US officials, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and US NSA besides Congressmen and business chambers.

On how India and the US are planning to handle a belligerent China, Jaishankar said the two countries have a shared objective of betterment and strengthening of the Indo-Pacific region. China's aggression was a key subject of discussion between Jaishankar and his US interlocutors this week.


"Where Indian and US interests converge, and they do, I think, is on the stability and the security, the progress, the prosperity, the development of the Indo-Pacific. Because you have seen, even in the case of Ukraine, a war fought a great distance away, has the potential, has the capability of actually creating turbulence across the world in terms of implications for the daily lives of people," he said.

Jaishankar said the world today is very globalised, extremely interlocked and interdependent. "It is therefore to say that we have skin in the game is an understatement. I think we have vital stakes today in ensuring that the larger region is stable, that it is secured, that there is cooperation and that the focus is on the right things."

Batting for UNSC reforms, the minister emphasised that the need to reform the UN Security Council cannot be denied forever. India, currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council, will complete its two-year tenure in December this year. In the month of December, India will preside over the Security Council.

"We have never thought that it was an easy process. But we do believe that the need for reform cannot be denied forever," Jaishankar said. "My understanding is that the position that President (Joe) Biden put forward is the most explicit and specific articulation of the US support for reform of the UN, including the Security Council."