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BIG STORY                                                                 MAY 06, 2022  |    The Indian Eye                     5






























        Modi interacts with US President Joe Biden during the Build Black Better for the World (B3W) event   President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen meets
                                at COP26 Summit last year                                        Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar


        von der Leyen on Monday praised In-  when, as he said, the civil society in Af-  disruptions.         ters – from Norway and Luxembourg.
        dia for being a ‘powerhouse’ in tech-  ghanistan was thrown under the bus.  Jaishankar had in February list-  “Let’s see this in the right context. We
        nology and termed its relationship    “There are equally pressing is-  ed NATO’s expansion as one of the   all need to find some way of return-
        with the country as one of the most   sues in other parts of the world like   reasons for the situation in Ukraine   ing to diplomacy and dialogue and to
        important for the coming decade.  Afghanistan and challenges in Asia…  and later slammed the West, in the   do that the fighting must stop. That’s
            This  comes  as PM  Modi  and   when  rules-based  order  was  under   presence of UK Foreign secretary   what we are trying to do,’’ said the
        the EU chief held bilateral talks in   threat in Asia, the advice we got from   Elizabeth Truss, for questioning In-  minister further.
        New Delhi on Monday, where they   Europe was to do more trade. At least   dia’s oil imports from Russia when   Jaishankar was addressing a ses-
        reviewed progress in the India-EU   we are not giving you that advice. On   Europe itself bought 15 percent more   sion at the Raisina Dialogue which
        strategic partnership and agreed to   Afghanistan, please tell me which part   energy from Russia in March than in   saw participation by many European
        deepen cooperation in areas of trade,   of the rules-based order justifies what   February. The pushback against Eu-  foreign  ministers. Without  naming
        climate, digital technology, and peo-  the world did there,’’ said Jaishankar,   rope, for its indifference in the past   China, he made it obvious that Eu-
        ple-to-people ties. “India is techno-  as he made the point that no country   to Chinese expansionism, on Tuesday   rope had been insensitive in the past
        logically  a  powerhouse,  and  in  the   wanted to see the practical conse-  was perhaps more significant though   to security threats emanating from
        trade sector, we need to unleash an   quences of the conflict like higher en-  as  it  came  in  response  to  questions   China’s conduct in Asia, including on
        enormous amount of untapped po-   ergy prices, food inflation and other   by at least 2 European foreign minis-  the border issue with India as he said
        tential,” von der Leyen said.                                                                         this was a region where boundaries
            “For  the European  Union,  the                                                                   have not been settled.
        partnership with India is one of our                                                                      “There has been a lot of argu-
        most important relationships for the                                                                  ments from Europe saying things are
        coming decade and strengthening this                                                                  happening in Europe and Asia should
        partnership is a priority”, she added.                                                                be worried about it because these
        Marking the 60th anniversary of the                                                                   could happen in Asia. Guess what,
        India-EU relationship and meeting                                                                     things have been happening in Asia
        Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  on                                                                     for  the  past  10  years.  Europe  may
        the occasion, the EU chief said, “I am                                                                not have looked at it. This could be
        very happy to visit India and to see                                                                  a wakeup call for Europe not just in
        you again, Prime Minister. It is the                                                                  Europe but a wakeup call to also look
        60th anniversary of relations between                                                                 at Asia. This is where boundaries have
        the EU and India.”                                                                                    not been settled, where terrorism is
            “Today, our relationship is more                                                                  still  practiced  and  often  sponsored
        important than ever. We have so                                                                       by states…rules-based order here has
        much in common,” she added.                                                                           been under continuous threat. It’s not
            Ursula  von der  Leyen  also  met                                                                 that the problems are going to hap-
        External Affairs Minister (EAM) S                                                                     pen, the problems have been happen-
        Jaishankar on Monday and discussed                                                                    ing for 10 years,’’ said the minister, as
        ways to take the India-EU partner-                                                                    he spoke about India and other coun-
        ship forward and exchanged views on                                                                   tries looking to find the right “balance
        the impact of the Ukraine conflict.                                                                   of interests’’.
            But S Jaishankar Tuesday panned                                                                       As the western world try very hard
        Europe for questioning India’s Rus-                                                                   to drag India into their conflict with
        sia-Ukraine policy as he remined the                                                                  Russia over Ukraine, India is likely to
        Europeans that they were not actually                                                                 perform a balancing act, which could
        bending over backwards to address                                                                     be quite tough. But at the moment,
        India’s concerns when the rules-based       Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin at their meeting in January  India seems to stand firm, refusing to
        order was under threat in Asia or                                                                     take sides in this conflict.


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