Vajpayee tried to dissuade Pakistan from sponsoring cross-border terrorism, sought modus vivendi with China: Jaishankar

Noting that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's approach to international relations focused on responding effectively to global changes, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that the late leader sought modus vivendi with China based on mutual interests and strenuously tried to dissuade Pakistan from its path of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.

Noting that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's approach to international relations focused on responding effectively to global changes, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that the late leader sought modus vivendi with China based on mutual interests and strenuously tried to dissuade Pakistan from its path of sponsoring cross-border terrorism. "With China, whether as foreign minister or prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee sought a modus vivendi that was based as much on mutual respect as on mutual interests. With Pakistan, he strenuously tried to dissuade them from their path of sponsoring cross border terrorism," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the Second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture on Friday.

"All this was underpinned by his belief that India must develop deeper strands at home. This found expression in the exercise of the nuclear option as it did in the economic modernisation that he presided over," Jasishankar added. Emphasising that the objective of the memorial lecture is to focus on Vajpayee's contributions to foreign policy, Jaishankar recalled the late leader's contributions as a parliamentarian, foreign minister and prime minister.

"There is much that can be related in terms of specific policies and particular events in that regard. But if we are to look at the essence of his approach to international relations, it is evident that this focuses on responding effectively to the global changes," the Minister said in his virtual address. Referring to the United States, Jaishankar said Vajpayee had introduced policy corrections that reflected the end of the cold war and the new global balance.

"At the same time, he kept India's course steady with Russia despite the turbulence of that era," he added. Underlining that the winds of change are most apparent currently in the Indo-Pacific, Jaishankar said that it is there that the diplomatic creativity which the former Prime Minister inspires should be more strongly applied.

"We are looking at a complex set of transformations that are simultaneously underway. The Indo-Pacific is witnessing both multi-polarity and rebalancing," he added. The Minister said Indo-Pacific is seeing great power competition as well as middle power plus activities.

"Orthodox politics including territorial differences are in sharper play side by side with currencies of power like connectivity and technology. In fact, no other landscape illustrates better the widening of the definition of our national security," Jaishankar added. The lecture was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs to mark Vajpayee's birth anniversary on December 25. (ANI)

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