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No one will emerge victorious from the war in Ukraine, was the message from India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar last week as he addressed New Delhi’s biggest annual foreign policy event — the Raisina Dialogue. The Ukraine crisis — and India’s response to it — was understandably the focus at the event, where Dr. Jaishankar reminded the Western officials present that there were several equally serious challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
At the dialogue, a number of European Foreign Ministers and officials, led by European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, called on India to reconsider its position on the conflict in Ukraine. At a time when the world is becoming more and more divided between the U.S. and Europe on one side, and Russia and China on the other, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar analyses the line that New Delhi is taking. Ms. Haidar asks: is non-alignment back? You can read or watch her take here.
More from a busy week in diplomacy in New Delhi:
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn during a Interview with The Hindu in New Delhi on April 27, 2022. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
- Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, who spoke at the Raisina Dialogue, in an interview with The Hindu said he hoped India will take a more critical stance on Russia’s actions.
- Foreign Minister of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, who has been instrumental in imposing sanctions on Russian entities and individuals, spoke to The Hindu during his visit to New Delhi last week on the Ukraine crisis as well as relations with India.
- In a change in South Korea’s position on balanced relations with China and the U.S. because of the Ukraine conflict, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has announced that his country will examine joining the Quad grouping to strengthen its military position, said Maj. Gen. Jung Hae-II, President, Korea National Defence University, South Korea, at the Raisina Dialogue.
The Top Five
What we are reading - the best of The Hindu’s Opinion and Analysis
France’s centrist incumbent president Emmanuel Macron adresses voters in front of the Eiffel Tower after beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen for a second five-year term as president with 58,8% votes on April 24, 2022 in Paris, France. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
- Former NSA M.K. Narayanan on why talk of a Third World War may be premature.
- Sridhar Krishnaswami on why few in the Democratic Party in the U.S. are looking at whether President Biden will run for re-election in 2024. Instead, all eyes are on November 8’s mid-term elections and concerns that the next two years may see a lame duck presidency.
- Despite his election victory, Emmanuel Macron should tread carefully as the far right’s Le Pen and the left-wing’s Mélenchon cannot be written off, writes Emile Chabal.
- Suhasini Haidar on Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who has become the youngest Foreign Minister of Pakistan.
- As Sri Lanka witnesses a severe economic crash, a political deadlock at the helm is threatening to delay any action for recovery, writes Meera Srinivasan.
Neighbourhood Watch
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen during a meeting, in Dhaka. | Photo Credit: PTI
- External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar last week travelled to Bangladesh and Bhutan. In Dhaka, he held talks with his counterpart Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen. He was the first high-level visitor from abroad to Thimphu since the onset of COVID-19.
- It is not just Sri Lanka’s angry citizens and political Opposition who are challenging the Rajapaksa administration’s response to the country’s dire economic condition. Increasingly, prominent capitalists and big businesses are shedding their habitual caution and openly criticising the political impasse that is further threatening the country’s crashing economy, reports Meera Srinivasan.
- China will allow some Indian students to return to resume their studies after a two-year gap on a “need-assessed basis”, Indian officials said last week.
- China last week called on Pakistan to “resolutely crack down” on terror outfits in the wake of a suicide attack in Karachi on Tuesday that killed three Chinese teachers and one Pakistani national.
- A new Global Security Initiative put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping will look to counter the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quad, according to Chinese officials.
- As China grapples with more lockdowns, political scientist Dali Yang in an interview with The Hindu explains why the leadership has no easy exit from its increasingly costly zero-COVID strategy.
