"I would say what we are seeing, which is a return of history, that the growth, because you have in India recovering from the COVID, posting 8 percent growth again.... And such in India, preparing to invest in its own region, in its extended neighborhood, which is very much at the cutting edge of globalization", said Dr S Jaishankar, foreign minister in New York.
"I think in a way is retaking its place in history. So when I picked the title of ‘India, Asia and the World’; I was gently suggesting that perhaps there was a greater centrality to India in the future than we've had in the last few decades, and that would represent a return of history," he said.
He was speaking at an event titled 'India, Asia and the World', hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.
The External Affairs Minister expressed his confidence that India's relations with its neighbours, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, would remain positive and constructive, despite the recent developments in the two nations.
"I would urge you not to be deterministic about it. It's not like India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour," he said.
"That's not how it works. It doesn't work, not just for us, it doesn't work for anybody else," Jaishankar said.
The minister was responding to a question that while India has given unconditional aid to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the changes in government there appear to be potentially adverse for India.
"I'm very confident that in our neighbourhood, the realities of interdependence or mutual benefit and our ability to get along will serve both our interests," Jaishankar stated, adding, "Those realities will assert themselves. That's been the history."
Dr Jaishankar further noted that every few years, some event occurs in the region, and people suggest there is an irretrievable situation.
"You then see the correctives beginning to manifest themselves," he explained, adding, "So, I would take it in that spirit and am quite confident that in both these cases (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), our relationship would continue to be positive and constructive."
These remarks have their own significance as recent changes in the governments of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- Anura Kumara Dissanayake being sworn in as Sri Lanka's new President and Sheikh Hasina's removal from power in Bangladesh on August 5.
Regarding Sri Lanka, Jaishankar highlighted that India had extended timely aid during Colombo's severe economic crisis of 2022.
Highlighting that India "stepped forward" when Colombo was facing a "very deep economic crisis", and when "nobody else came forward", Jaishankar said,
-- "And I'm very glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner. We did it on a scale. We provided $4.5 billion, which effectively stabilised the Sri Lankan economy."
He clarified that this assistance was not tied to any political conditionality. "We were doing it as a good neighbour who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep."
"I would particularly point to some interesting connectivity proposals, initiatives, which are on the table, most notably the IMEC, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. And I point to it because what it does is, in a way it connects the Atlantic to India, Europe through the Arabian Peninsula to India," he stated.
"And we are in turn trying, obviously with a lot of challenges in front of us, to also build the connectivity to the Pacific through Myanmar, which is called the Trilateral Highway.
So it is conceivable, perhaps by the end of the decade, that you could actually have land-based, primarily land-based, connectivity all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which runs through Asia, and which will have obviously very profound strategic and economic consequences," Dr Jaishankar said.
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