India does not seek to control every political move of neighbours, and does not expect that the political dynamics within neighbouring countries will adhere to what India may think is desirable, but Delhi is confident that fundamental realities of interdependence will ensure that relationships with neighbours remains constructive and positive, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said.

At a time when a regime change in Bangladesh through street protests and a government change in Sri Lanka through electoral route has generated questions about Dhaka and Colombo’s ties with Delhi, Jaishankar also made it clear that India remains focused on building economic regionalism in South Asia.

During a conversation at Asia Society in New York, the minister was asked about India’s “non-reciprocal” approach to neighbours hasn’t yielded benefits with the rise of potentially governments, and about India’s role regarding the treatment of minorities in Bangladesh.

Jaishankar said that India stepped forward in the case of Sri Lanka at a time when others didn’t — in a timely manner and on scale — and that helped stabilised the island state’s economy. “When we did it, we did not have a political conditionality that accompanied it. We were doing it as a good neighbour that did not want to see an economic meltdown at the doorstep. What happens politically in Sri Lanka is for their politics to work out. At the end of the day, each one of our neighbours will have their own dynamics. It is not our intention to suggest that their dynamics must necessarily adhere to what we might consider being better for us.” He added that this was a “real world”, everyone made their choices and countries then found a way to adjust and work together.

Over the weekend, elections in Sri Lanka saw the victory of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janata Vimukhti Peramuna (JVP), an old Marxist party, as a part of wider coalition. While India has engaged with Dissanayake — both before and after the election — his past critical positions on elements of Indian policy and economic interests, at a time of China’s continued engagement, have given rise to apprehensions about Colombo’s approach to India under a new dispensation.

In the case of Bangladesh, which he acknowledged as being a different situation, the ministers traced back the progress of the past decade.

(Hindustan Times)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by Hindustan Times has not been edited by SLM staff)