Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Tuesday said Pakistan’s plans regarding Jammu and Kashmir in the last 70 years would fall flat once development starts picking pace in the Valley, reported PTI. Jaishankar, who is on a three-day tour of the United States, made the remark after his address at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The Union minister claimed restrictions in the Valley were helping prevent the misuse of internet and social media, and loss of lives. He reminded that in 2016 violence broke out in the Valley following the killing of Burhan Wani. “There is a lot of experience which has gone into that precaution,” Jaishankar added. “If you look at the events in 2016, for example, we saw how the internet and social media was used to radicalise and to mobilise.”
Several restrictions, including a communication blockade, have been imposed in the state since August 5, when the Union government scrapped its special constitutional status. The government did not discuss the move with the state’s representatives, and several Kashmiri leaders were either detained or put under house arrest before the decision was announced.
Pakistan was outraged by the move, and responded by suspending trade relations, downgrading diplomatic ties, and writing letters to the United Nations in an effort to internationalise the matter. India, however, has resisted attempts to discuss Kashmir at global platforms, calling it an internal matter.
“There are reactions out there,” said Jaishankar. “There are vested interests built over 70 years. There are local vested interest. There are vested interest across the border.” He called these “transitional risks when one changes the status quo on anything in a very substantial way”.
“[But], if we actually manage to get development going in Jammu and Kashmir, do understand, that everything that the Pakistanis have planned for the last 70 years comes to naught,” he added.
The minister also claimed that Pakistan would attempt to stall development in the region. “So our challenge today is actually to sort of ensure that this works on the ground,” he added. “And to do that, the beginning is to prevent loss of life and then the changes are made.”
Jaishankar’s development pitch has been echoed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik.
‘I am reasonably convinced of the powers of my persuasion’
Jaishankar said the US would appreciate India’s rationale behind its purchase of a missile defense system from Russia despite the threat of sanctions from Washington. “India has made a decision on the S-400 and we have discussed that with the US government,” said the minister, according to PTI. “I am reasonably convinced of the powers of my persuasion.”
On Monday, Jaishankar had made it clear that New Delhi would not like any country to tell it what it can buy from Russia “any more than we would like any state to tell us to buy or not buy from America”. “That freedom of choice is ours and we think it’s in everybody’s interest to recognise that,” he said.
Last year, India had agreed to buy five S-400 systems for $5.2 billion, and Russia has assured that delivery is on track. The US imposes sanctions on countries over “major” arms purchases from Russia because of Moscow’s military involvement in Ukraine and Syria, and alleged meddling in 2016 US presidential elections.
Jaishankar also said India had a “good case” to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, adding that the world body’s credibility would be affected otherwise.
“If you have... a United Nations where the most populous country in the world – may be in 15 years – with the third largest economy is not in the decision making of the United Nations, I grant you, it affects the country concerned,” he said at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “But I would also suggest it affects the United Nations’ credibility.”
Responding to a question about sanctions imposed on Iran, Jaishankar rejected claims that Tehran is disappointed with New Delhi for not buying oil from it any more. “I think Iranians are realists,” Jaishankar said. “There is a larger global situation in which they are operating, we are operating. In the world that I inhabit, we frankly understand each other’s compulsions and possibilities.”
“From our perspective, the real issue is how do I continue to get affordable, predictable access to oil and gas?” he said. “So far that has been made possible.”
‘Will find a fix to trade deal’
At another event, Jaishankar expressed confidence that India and the United States will “find a fix” to their trade disputes and intense engagement was going on to finalise a trade deal, PTI reported. He said such deals are not simple arithmetic but much more complicated as they involve a number of variables.
Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, news reports had said that the two countries were racing to negotiate a limited trade deal that President Donald Trump and Modi could sign in New York City by the end of the United Nations General Assembly session. However, no such deal was finalised. India said the two sides had “narrowed the areas of difference” during negotiations and “some kind of a trade agreement” would be reached in the near future. India also rejected claims that the trade talks had got derailed.
Jaishankar said the two sides would be “talking with each other continually over the coming days”.
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