Defending the abrogation of the contentious Article 370 by the Narendra Modi government, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that it was a temporary provision that continued for 75 years because of the 'politics of the day'. He also asserted that the 'politics of the day' should not make the borders vulnerable or harm the larger interest of the nation.
“If you look at the whole Article 370 issue…other than the politics of the day, what was the reason for a temporary provision to continue for so long?" Jaishankar asked while interacting with the students at IIM Calcutta.
"And the fact that we had such a messy issue there…I mean the entire world used it for the last 75 years," he added.
Underlining the need to put "national interest" ahead of every other thing, Jaishankar urged the politicians to practice it in the right earnest.
“It’s important that we put the national interest first. Politics of the day should not trump the larger interest of the nation. And clearly, all politicians should have that approach in the first place,” he said.
“It should not lead our borders to be vulnerable. To some extent, we have to create the culture and to some extent, the public opinion on this should come," he added.
Rejecting criticism of India's foreign policy with regard to Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Jaishankar said that the benchmark for successful diplomacy is when Indian consumers pay less money for petrol and farmers are assured of availability of fertilizers on time.
"Diplomacy is a bread and butter issue. At the end of my day, say today, I have made sure that an Indian consumer is paying less for petrol at the petrol pump, an Indian farmer is assured of fertilizer at the right time, an Indian household is getting its food and cooking oil at the right price, to me these are really my benchmark of what is successful diplomacy," he said.
