Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: What do PayTM’s CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, and many others from different areas, have in common? They have all become fans of External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar!
Dr. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval are Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most trusted duo in designing India’s geopolitical approach to the 21st century.
Son of India’s eminent strategic affairs analyst K. Subrahmanyam, Dr. Jaishankar has just made the country proud: during his recent America visit, he paid the western hypocrites in their own coin.
He also pushed back against his counterpart, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s gratuitous comments about monitoring human rights violations in India.
In a sharp response to a question on Blinken’s recent comments on an alleged rise in human rights abuses in India, he said at a press briefing: “Look, people are entitled to have views about us. But we are also equally entitled to have views about their views and about the interests, and the lobbies and the vote banks which drive that. So, whenever there is a discussion, I can tell you that we will not be reticent about speaking out,” and clarified that the human rights issue was not a topic of discussion during the 2+2 ministerial meeting.
With India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, by his side, Dr. Jaishankar said: “I would tell you we also take our views on other people’s human rights situation, including that of the United States. So, we take up human rights issues when they arise in this country, especially when they pertain to our community. And in fact, we had a case yesterday…that’s really where we stand on that.”
It was a clear reference to two morning walker Sikh men assaulted on Tuesday in an alleged hate crime incident in the Richmond Hill area of New York. This was a second such incident within 10 days.
The US Secretary of State’s comments on human rights in India were seen as a rare direct rebuke by Washington of New Delhi in the middle of discussions over India’s stand on Russia’s Ukraine invasion. He had, according to the media reports, said: “We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values (of human rights) and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials.”
The US State Department had, in its 2021 country report on Human Rights Practices published this week, said that there were “credible reports” of human rights issues, including “extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents” in India.
The EAM’s rebuttal was also seen in reports of a 200 percent increase in incidents of hate crimes against the Indian community in the US. NY State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, the first Punjabi-American ever elected to the New York State Office, had referred to these crimes.
Another remarkable reply that won Dr. Jaishankar applause was when an ill-informed journalist sought to rake up India purchasing Russian oil.
The EAM’s curt reply was: “I noticed you referred to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe.”
“We do buy some energy, which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect looking at the figures. Our total purchases for the month will be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So, you might want to think about it.”
A couple of weeks ago, while speaking at the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum, Dr. Jaishankar reiterated that European nations were the biggest importers of Russian energy, both oil and gas.
He also defended India’s decision to purchase Russian crude at discounted rates and said it was important for the country to get good deals on energy supplies when global markets were volatile.
“It is interesting because we have seen for some time what looks almost like a campaign (against us) on this issue. When the oil prices go up, I think it is natural for the countries to go out into the market and look for what are good deals for their people,” he remarked.
During a recent meeting with his British counterpart Liz Truss, he emphasized India purchased its majority of energy supplies from the Middle East, around 8 percent of the total oil imports from the United States, and less than 1 percent from Russia.
“I am pretty sure if we wait two or three months and actually look at who are the big buyers of Russian oil and gas, I suspect the list would not be too different from what it used to be and I suspect we won’t be in the top 10 on that list.”