"Modi Govt did away with minoritarian pandering" :::: “Appeasement” - a very powerful word in India; secularism doesn’t mean being non-religious --- says Dr Jaishankar

In yet another candid outbursts, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar described “appeasement” as a very powerful word in the Indian political debate stating this factor in effect guided the direction in which politics in India went.

“For us, secularism doesn’t mean being non-religious; for us, secularism means equal respect to all faiths. Now, what happened in reality in politics was beginning with equal respect for all faiths, we actually got into a sort of vote bank politics....politics of minoritarian pandering," he said at an interaction under the theme "How a Billion people See the World’ at the Royal Over-Seas League in London.

"That (appeasement and minority pandering) over a period of time, I think, created a backlash,” he said.  

“Has India changed from the Nehruvian era? Absolutely, because one of the assumptions of that era which very much guided the thinking of the polity and its projection abroad was the way we define secularism in India,” said Jaishankar, in response to a question by journalist-author Lionel Barber.  

To a specific question on 'Hindu centric new India' and how this affects India's relation in the Gulf and other parts of the region and whether 'tolerance' had gone down in India as a result, he responded: “I don’t think so; I think on the contrary. I think people today are less hypocritical about their beliefs, about their traditions and their culture. 

He said, the political and social changes seen in India in the last few years have partly been a reaction “at an intellectual and political level” to this sense of unfairness.

“More and more people started feeling that in a way, in the name of equality of all religions, in fact, the biggest religion had to be self-deprecatory and play itself down. A big part of that community felt it was not being fair,” he noted.  

The discussions covered a wide range of topics, including India-China relations, the ongoing diplomatic row with Canada and the socio-political scenario in the country. 

“We are more Indian, more authentic. We are not today, either currying favour before a global audience or really trying to live up to some kind of left-wing liberal construct which a lot of Indians felt was not us.”

The question-and-answer session, organised by foreign policy agency Wilton Park in partnership with the High Commission of India in London, marked the minister’s final engagement in London as he concluded his five-day UK visit on Nov 15th. 

Dr Jaishankar said, "How are our relations with the Gulf...as an example. Far far better than ever been in our history. It probably applies without exception in the Gulf but one recent example of this is our Connectivity Corridor....". In this context, he pointed out at the Free Trade Agreement inked last year with the UAE.

"The number of Indians in the Gulf is the highest it has ever been. There are more Indians in UAE and Saudi Arabia than probably in the UK. .... The relationships with Gulf Kingdoms have really deepened in terms of security, culture....". 

He said, "I not only accept. I assert there are big changes that took place in India...but these changes have been very well received in the Middle East, West Asia as we call it".  

 

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Dr Jaishankar said that the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 proved the untenability of the outcome of partition

"1971 was a disruption..in the sense that it took a partitioned subcontinent and brought out the the  untenability of the outcome of partition," the Minister said adding, the episode did create a "different construct in the subcontinent".

"You know what was than the poorer part, the less developed part of Pakistan has actually done much better (now) economically". 

"What will happen to a country like India.... as we go up the hierarchy...something will be evolutionary. But sometime we have to take some big call," he said and in the context maintained that digitilisation of India is a very remarkable phenomenon.  

One question was : "Do you believe China can expect India in its Sino-centric view of the world?" 

Dr Jaishankar said: "There is a certain reality which is the rise of China.....There is equal reality, the rise of India. The 'rise' may be different......qualitatively and quantitatively cannot be identical. But the fact as two countries are close neighbours who are two older civilisations of the world. Who have survived as nation states and who are exceptional as nation-states. I think there are realities that need to be recognised. 

"I am today the fifth largest economy, I am the largest in terms of population. The impact that India will make ....I am the fastest growing large economy of the world; these are the realities that have to be factored in in anybody's calculation nit just Chinese".