"Mein kahoonga sabse badey diplomat, ek Shri Krrishna they, ek Hanuman they," Dr Jaishankar told a gathering in Pune.
New Delhi
Suave diplomat-turned-politician Dr S Jaishankar was at his best when he described Lord Krishna and Lord Hanuman as the "greatest diplomats."
Speaking at an event in Pune on Saturday, the External Affairs Minister lamented over the geographical limitations of India to choose its neighbours.
Team Modi: Diplomacy
"It is a reality to us....The Pandavas could not choose relatives, we cannot choose our neighbours. Naturally, we hope good sense prevails" he said when asked if "a rogue nation (Pakistan)" which happens to be nuclear power is an asset or a liability for New Delhi.
Explaining 'strategic patience', the Minister gave the example of Lord Krishna forgiving Shishupal 100 times and then beheading him.
God Krishna had assured Shishupal's mother earlier that he "will forgive 100 mistakes of Shishupal", but when the latter crossed the limits, he met his fate.
"Mein kahoonga sabse badey diplomat, ek Shri Krrishna they, ek Hanuman they," Dr Jaishankar told the gathering, adding, 'I have always tried to explain my own people if you want look for expertise in diplomacy look in our own home (civilisation and nation's legacy)". .
Dr Jaishankar said, "If I ask my colleagues who is the best diplomat, I can give you in writing they will name one from the west".
Then he explained in details on intricacies of strategic thinking, diplomacy and also on the importance of the inherent qualities of a good decision-maker.
Dr Jaishankar compared Kurukshetra, where the Mahabharat war took place between the Kauravas and Pandavas as a stage of "Multi-polar India". "In this some people might have been non-aligned like Balram," he maintained.
Strategic autonomy is the ability of a state to pursue its own national interest and preferred foreign policy
without being constrained by other states. Of course, it can be argued that India has pursued the policy of
strategic autonomy ever since its independence during the bipolar cold war (1947-1991), unipolar times
(1991-2008) and also multi-polar times as now.
Speaking about "strategic deception", Dr Jaishankar gave the example of Lord Krishna creating the illusion of a sunset and then Arjuna could take revenge and kill Jayadrath for killing his son Abhimanyu.
Speaking at the event in Pune for the release of his book "The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World," which has been translated into Marathi as 'Bharat Marg', Dr Jaishankar said, "The biggest diplomats in the world were Lord Krishna and Hanuman... If we look at Hanuman, he had even gone beyond diplomacy, he went ahead of the mission, could contact Sita and also set Lanka on fire".
On Arjuna's dilemma to fight his own cousins and other near and dear ones, Dr Jaishankar it was like 'strategic constraints' as often discussed in the contemporary setting.
“What was Arjuna’s dilemma, it was a constraint, that he was emotionally interdependent…that how do I fight against my relatives. That was not material interdependence, but it was emotional interdependence,” he said.
On Lord Hanuman's role, he said, "It was like a multi-purpose diplomat".
“We sometimes say Pakistan did this or that, and we will show strategic patience. The best example of strategic patience is the way Lord Krishna handled Shishupal. He (Lord Krishna) forgave him 100 times,” he said, adding "uskey baad aap ko pata hae unhone kya kaha (Then you all know what God Krishna did)".
Pakistan's inept handling of the terror menace is turning into a serious global challenge and Islamabad has already received backlash from the global community for the same.
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