On Sunday, the Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, stated that not only do Indians and people of Indian descent around the world have faith in India, but also people in more than 100 developing countries do as well, receiving the required assistance in times of need.
Speaking at a seminar on Indian foreign policy organised by the BJP’s Kashi regional unit at the Gandhian Study Centre in Varanasi to mark the conclusion of the Modi government’s nine years in office, Jaishankar emphasised accomplishments that altered the perception of India around the world.
The EAM recalled the Covid pandemic, saying “ When it started and nobody in the world was finding ways to tackle it, the PM launched Operation Vande Bharat to bring back Indians from different countries.In this historic mission, 70 lakh Indians were brought back.” According to him, India began providing vaccines to more than 100 underdeveloped nations when vaccination campaigns began and all powerful nations were attempting to vaccinate only their own populations. “Modi ensured justice for the population of those developing countries by launching Mission Vaccine Maitri. Today wherever we go, we see India’s image has strengthened due to this mo said Jaishankar.
In reference to the recent act of respect by PM James Marape of Papua New Guinea, who caressed Modi’s feet, he said: “In my 45-year career, I had never seen any head of nation showing such a gesture for his counterpart.”
“In the past nine years, India has extended all help at the time of crises, whether it was earthquake Nepal or Turkey , flood in Sri Lanka, storm of Myanmar or others,” the EAM said, adding, “PM Modi’s initiatives have made developing countries confident that whether anyone comes or not but Modi is there to help in tough times. We not only talk about ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (world is a family) but practise it.”
“It is the vision of PM Modi that wherever the countrymen go in the world, either for studies, earning livelihood or for tourism, they should have confidence that in case of any crisis, India will come to safeguard them,” said Jaishankar, bringing up Operation Kaveri, which saved more than 5,000 Indians from Sudan, and Operation Ganga, which brought back 20,000 Indian students from the Ukraine.
The EAM stated that pressure was applied from various directions after the formation of QUAD and other circumstances, but Modi maintained his position. “Every development like the Ukraine-Russia war leaves an impact inside the country also. If we had co under pressure on the issue of purchasing petroleum oil from Russia, the impact could (have) become evident on the price of oil in the country. PM Modi had given me the liberty to initiate all necessary steps by keeping the interest of countrymen in view. No PM had given such liberty to EAM in the past,” he said.
He said, “Whether it was the surgical strike or the decision of the Modi government to develop border infrastructure on LAC despite challenge Covid-19, anyone can find a big difference in style of giving response if compared to actions taken after the past incidents like 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.”
