Underlining the big takeaways from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent US visit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stressed that "discussions in Washington have opened up many more new possibilities".
Speaking at a virtual event organised by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Thursday, Jaishankar said: "I think today, there is a very good fit between India and the US. And to me, it was very telling that the outcome document from the bilateral visit actually is called India and US partnership for global good."
Stating that the situation in Afghanistan was a key point of discussion between President Biden and PM Narendra Modi last Friday, Jaishankar said without naming Pakistan that India's views on a certain neighbour of Afghanistan were different from US views.
When asked whether India and the US are on similar pages with regard to the situation in Afghanistan, Dr Jaishankar said, "We are victims of cross-border terrorism."
"How much US shares that view and makes 'tactical compromises' is for the US to figure out," Jaishankar strongly stated.
Last week, US President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of Australia, India, and Japan at the White House for the first in-person summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad. The four leaders issued an ambitious joint statement--rather than separate ones, as in the past. The agenda focused largely on solving global challenges such as climate change and access to vaccines, signalling that the Quad is not merely a geopolitical clique, as China has asserted.
When asked about India and the US's perspective on managing the complex issue of the rise of Chinese power, Jaishankar said India has a very substantial relationship with Beijing and Quad is for things, not against someone. "We shouldn't be railroaded into a negative discourse and read from someone else's script."
Referring to Quad, Jaishankar emphasised that it is not a ganging up but a very natural consequence of events in the region.
Noting that the rise of China has had a fundamental impact on the international order, Jaishankar said that "as participants in the international order we need to assess that and respond to that in the light of our own interest".
Highlighting how India is the only G-20 economy on track to meet its Paris Agreement emissions reduction goals, Jaishankar further stressed that India's record on climate change is "better than all three of its Quad partners combined".
Emphasising US policymakers push to India to make a net-zero pledge, Jaishankar said that New Delhi has its own vision and ideas of handling climate change.
"You know we need to strive for net-zero. But net-zero, global net-zero means that the developing countries must still have room to grow. And that the developed countries need to do their own net-zero, and net minus. So we need a more sincere, more honest and, frankly, much more serious effort at addressing this challenge," Jaishankar said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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