In a veiled dig at China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on May 12 that when nations disregard the legal obligations or violate longstanding agreements, the damage to trust and confidence is immense.
Addressing the sixth Indian Ocean Conference in the Bangladeshi capital, he also said a significant shared concern through the Indian Ocean is that of unsustainable debt generated by unviable projects.
“When nations disregard the legal obligations or violate long-standing agreements. As we have seen, the damage to trust and confidence is immense,” he said, apparently referring to China’s violation of border pacts with India.
India has been slamming China’s deployment of a massive number of troops and its aggressive behaviour along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in violation of pacts on border management.
India has firmly told China that its violation of the border pacts has eroded the entire basis of bilateral ties and that all issues relating to the frontier must be resolved in accordance with the existing agreements.
“There are lessons from the last two decades that we ignore at our peril. If we encourage opaque lending practices, exorbitant ventures and price points that are unrelated to the market, these are bound to bite us back sooner rather than later,” he said.
He said this was time to reflect and reform not to repeat and reiterate.
Mr. Jaishankar is visiting Dhaka to participate in the Sixth edition of the Indian Ocean Conference which is being attended by President of Mauritius Prithvirajsing Roopun, Vice President of Maldives Faisal Naseem, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, and several ministers from across the world.
EAM Jaishankar calls on Bangladesh PM Hasina
After reaching Dhaka on May 11, Mr. Jaishankar called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and both the leaders discussed issues of mutual interests while expressing satisfaction at the level of bilateral cooperation in various fields.
“Honoured to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. Conveyed personal greetings and warm regards of PM @narendramodi. The guidance and vision of our leaders continues to strengthen India-Bangladesh Maitri,” Jaishankar tweeted.
Prime Minister Hasina’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim told PTI that the minister paid a courtesy call on the Bangladesh leader and during the talks they both “expressed satisfaction at the level of bilateral cooperation in various fields.” Mr. Karim said that the minister discussed with the Prime Minister about the South Asian regional economy amid the emerging situation in the backdrop of the post-Covid world and the Ukraine conflict.
The Prime Minister expected India to make significant contributions for advancing the interest of the people of the developing countries alongside the least developed country (LDCs), he added.
Earlier, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam received Jaishankar at the airport upon his arrival.
