External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said that the United States’ foreign policy shift under President Donald Trump was “expected” and added that it “suits India in many ways” as the Republican administration’s actions are moving the world order towards multipolarity.
Jaishankar said the foreign policy actions of the US under Trump were not surprising. “If you actually tracked it and assumed that most of the time, you know, political leaders, at least, do much of what they promised to do. They do not always succeed, or they do not always get everything they want, but as a general principle, you know when political forces or political leaders have an agenda, particularly if it is one which they have developed over a fairly long period of time and have been very articulate and passionate about it. Then, I think much of what we have seen and heard over the last few weeks was to be expected. So I’m a little surprised that people are surprised,” the minister said during a conversation with Chatham House Director and Chief Executive Bronwen Maddox in London.
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The Rajya Sabha MP also reflected on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s visit to Washington and said India’s relationship with the US holds a lot of promise.
“When I look at our interests and expectations for the relationship, I see a lot of promise. Conceptually, I believe we are seeing a president and administration that, in our parlance, are moving toward multipolarity. This is something that suits India,” PTI quoted Jaishankar as saying.
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“So one looks, you know, at our own political relationship, to be very honest with you. We have never had any issues with American presidents, at least in recent times. There’s no baggage, which we carry or burden that the relationship carries,” he added.
Jaishankar on BRICS ‘replacing’ US dollar
The minister said India has no policy to replace the US dollar as the international reserve currency. “As I said, at the end of the day, the dollar as the reserve currency is the source of international economic stability, and right now, what we want in the world is more economic stability, not less,” he said.
Jaishankar also said that BRICS member countries lack a unified position on replacing the US dollar globally.
“We do believe today that working with the United States and strengthening the international financial system and economic system is actually what should be the priority… I think that both the strategic assessment and our sense of what is required today by the international economy will really guide our thinking on this matter,” Jaishankar added.
(With agency inputs)