US and China in competitive mode, India must de-risk and diversify: Jaishankar
Jaishankar says the US and China are in a competitive mode, India is seeking to de-risk and diversify, and New Delhi and Washington have a broad understanding on trade.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the United States and China are operating in a competitive mode, and that other countries, including India, are working to de-risk and diversify their partnerships to protect their own interests.
Speaking at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York on Monday, after a week at the UN General Assembly session, Jaishankar offered his first public remarks on the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington last week.
He said that when the world's two weightiest economies come together, they may find points of convergence, but their overall relationship remains competitive. There are limits to what the two can agree upon in relation to the rest of the world, he added, which leaves other nations to make their own arrangements.
Countries are looking for optimal solutions, Jaishankar said, asking how they can de-risk, diversify, find new partners and draw more value from existing relationships. He described the global situation as difficult, but noted that countries respond, calculate, adjust and find new accommodations over time.
On India-US trade negotiations, Jaishankar underlined the stakes and complexity involved. He said India is a society of small producers, small agricultural holdings and small factories, and that apart from the per capita gap with the United States, the nature of production and society in the two countries is very different.
Trade talks, he said, require patience and attention to detail, and expectations of rapid progress were tested against a more complex ground reality. The two sides have now reached a situation where there is more or less an understanding on the trade agreement.
Jaishankar also flagged terrorism emanating from Pakistan as a key concern for India. He said few countries have faced the kind of terrorism India has from a neighbour as part of a deliberate and conscious policy over many decades.
If a matter that matters so deeply to India is not fully appreciated by its partner, that creates a problem, he said, adding that when a primary concern is not understood, it has an impact on the relationship.