Washington, Oct 1 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday told the Americans that they “do not feel bad” when India responds to their comments on its internal affairs.
“If you look at State to State, government to government level, we think it’s important that democracies are mutually respectful. It cannot be that one democracy has a right to comment on another and that’s part about promoting democracy globally, but when others do that, then it becomes foreign interference,” Jaishankar said in response to a question at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank.
“Foreign interference is foreign interference irrespective of who does it and where it is not. So, it’s a testy area and my personal view, which I have shared with many, you have every right to comment, but I have every right to comment on your comment. So don’t feel bad when I do this,” Jaishankar said in response to a question.
“The US and India are among the world’s leading countries with democratic forms of government. Here in the US our democracy, which includes much debate about many issues, sometimes features political leaders in the US making comments about democracy in India.
Jaishankar said the world is very globalised and as a result, the politics of any country doesn’t necessarily stay within the national boundaries of the country.
“Now the United States of course makes a special effort to ensure it doesn’t. That’s part of how you have conducted your foreign policy over many years. Now as in a globalised era where there are also globalised global agendas, there are players who like to shape not only the politics of their own country or their own region… And social media, economic forces, financial flows, all these give you opportunities to do that. How do you shape the narrative? So you have a whole industry,” he observed.
“What happens with that reality is it is part of the overall competition, a competition among countries and competition among political forces. When it is a competition, you expect others to do what they will and it’s your right to do what you will. And that’s playing out in a way,” Jaishankar said. PTI LKJ GSP GSP
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