Amid the ongoing diplomatic row with the Maldives, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently said that “politics is politics” and that “it can’t be guaranteed that every country will support or agree with India every time” even as he highlighted India’s continuous efforts to build global connections.
“But, seriously, as a solution, what we have been trying to do in the last 10 years, with a lot of success, is to build a very strong connect, so that, though the politics may go up and down, the people of the country, the society, generally have good feelings towards India and understand the importance of having good relations with India,” the minister said.
Jaishankar was speaking at a conference in Nagpur on Saturday, a day before the Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu set a March 15 deadline for India to withdraw its military personnel from his country. The Indian government did not immediately confirm the development or comment on it.
Jaishankar further listed the development works undertaken in various sectors in other countries. “We are involved today in building roads, electricity, transmission, supplying fuel, providing trade access, making investments, and having people holiday in other countries,” he added, stressing that “all these are parts of how you develop those relationships.” “Sometimes, things do not go in a good way, and then you have to reason with people to bring things back to where they should be,” the EAM said.
Tensions between India and Maldives rose recently when three junior ministers of the island nation’s government made derogatory remarks on social media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Lakshadweep islands. The Maldivian government has distanced itself from the remarks and suspended”the ministers.
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