{"id":74604,"date":"2025-05-04T19:29:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T19:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/74604\/"},"modified":"2025-05-04T19:29:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T19:29:12","slug":"jaishankar-says-india-is-looking-for-partners-not-preachers-highlights-new-delhis-russia-realism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/74604\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaishankar says India is looking for partners, not preachers; highlights New Delhi’s ‘Russia realism’"},"content":{"rendered":"

India is looking for \u201cpartners\u201d and not \u201cpreachers\u201d, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar said on Sunday (May 4, 2025), in a veiled message to Europe in the context of the conflict in Ukraine<\/a> as he explained the nuances of New Delhi\u2019s \u201cRussia realism\u201d and why the relationship between the two sides was an \u201cimportant fit\u201d. <\/p>\n

In an interactive session, Mr. Jaishankar, delving into broader geopolitical upheavals, said Europe had \u201centered a certain zone of a reality check\u201d and must display some sensitivity and mutuality of interest for deeper ties with India. <\/p>\n

India has always advocated for \u201cRussia realism\u201d and there was an \u201cimportant fit\u201d and \u201ccomplementarity\u201d between India and Russia as a resource provider and consumer, the EAM said, in remarks that came amid persistent efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to strike a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv. <\/p>\n

Over the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, New Delhi has remained engaged with Moscow and enhanced its procurement of Russian crude oil, which triggered criticism from the West. India, however, maintained that its ties with Russia are driven by national interest. <\/p>\n

The EAM also criticised earlier attempts by the West to find a solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict without involving Russia, saying it \u201cchallenged the basics of realism\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust like I am an advocate of Russia realism, I am also an advocate of America realism,\u201d he said at the \u2018Arctic Circle India Forum\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best way to engage today\u2019s America is also through finding mutuality of interests rather than putting ideological differences upfront and then allowing it to cloud the possibilities of working together,\u201d Mr. Jaishankar said. <\/p>\n

The EAM was broadly delving into the global consequences of developments in the Arctic and how the changing world order impacts the region. <\/p>\n

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mr. Jaishankar said India has always been \u201cvery careful not to prescribe a solution\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not told one or the other party to do this or do that. And that is important to remember because that is a courtesy that is not always granted to us. So, we get advice on what we should be doing,\u201d he said, in another dig at the West. <\/p>\n

Answering a question on India\u2019s expectations from Europe, Mr. Jaishankar said it had to get beyond preaching, and to start acting based on a framework of mutuality. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look out at the world, we look for partners; we do not look for preachers, particularly preachers who do not practice at home and preach abroad,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of Europe is still struggling with that problem. Some of it has changed,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The EAM said Europe had \u201centered a certain zone of reality check\u201d. \u201cNow, whether they are able to step up to it or not, it is something we will have to see,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut from our point of view, if we are to develop a partnership, there has to be some understanding, there has to be some sensitivity, there has to be a mutuality of interest, and there has to be a realisation of how the world works,\u201d he noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think these are all work in progress to differing degrees with different parts of Europe. So, some have moved further, some a little bit less,\u201d Mr. Jaishankar said. <\/p>\n

On India-Russia ties, he said there was such an \u201cimportant fit and complementarity\u201d between the two countries as a \u201cresource provider and resource consumer\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere Russia is concerned, we have always taken a view that there is a Russia realism that we have advocated,\u201d the EAM said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen passions were very high [in] 2022, 2023… if one looks back at that period, the kind of predictions and scenarios which were put forward have turned out not to be well-founded,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The Minister criticised the thinking of the West in the past that a solution to the conflict in Ukraine could emerge without involving Russia. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that you will get a solution out of Russia without inviting Russia challenged the basics of realism. We have always felt that there is a need to engage Russia. Nobody wants war, particularly in a very interdependent world. These are lose-lose situations,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think for us, to engage Russia, if there is any way we can be of help, we have always been very open about it,\u201d Mr. Jaishankar said, adding, \u201cHaving said that we have always been very careful not to prescribe a solution.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Minister said India was not necessarily siding with one party or the other. \u201cBut we always felt that international relations are conducted on the basis of some fundamental realism, and that realism requires an engagement with Russia,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Published – May 04, 2025 08:43 pm IST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India is looking for \u201cpartners\u201d and not \u201cpreachers\u201d, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar said on Sunday (May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[36879,36880,36882,36881,36878,332,17211],"class_list":{"0":"post-74604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-arctic-circle-india-forum","9":"tag-jaishankar-news","10":"tag-jaishankar-partners-not-preachers","11":"tag-jaishankar-remarks","12":"tag-new-delhi-russia-realism","13":"tag-russia","14":"tag-russia-ukraine-conflict"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114451222636773044","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}