While visiting Brussels this week, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke of India's changing foreign policy agenda and its strategic engagement with world powers, including the United States under Donald Trump.
In an interview with Euractiv, a European media outlet, Jaishankar was queried if India had faith in Trump as a trustworthy ally.
"Meaning what?" Jaishankar replied when asked the question. The interviewer explained, asking if Trump would qualify as a reliable ally and one India would like to strengthen relations with. Jaishankar answered briefly, "I take the world as I find it," and went on to say, "Our goal is to deepen every relationship that works in our interest — and the US relationship is of immense value to us. It's not personality X or president Y."
His blunt comments were made against the backdrop of heated controversy over Washington's role in de-escalation of India-Pakistan tensions. While the Trump administration takes credit for cooling down hostilities, New Delhi has repeatedly asserted that it had acted independently and bilaterally.
At a campaign rally on May 31, former President Trump stated, "We talk trade, and we say we can't trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons… They understood and they agreed, and that all stopped," implying that trade negotiations had an effect on a ceasefire.
On May 10, after a formal agreement between Pakistan and India to stop military operations, the United States once again made its role in facilitating the peace known. Trump had announced that the two countries agreed to an "immediate and full ceasefire" afterWashington-mediated extensive talks.
India has countered such assertions. New Delhi officials have explained that the ceasefire after Operation Sindoor was attained through bilateral talks with Pakistan, without any third-party involvement. Indian authorities also dismissed any connection between trade talks with the U.S. and regional security policies.
Jaishankar met European Union leaders during his stay in Brussels and presented India's main areas of foreign policy emphasis—counterterrorism, trade, global governance, and trust in a multipolar world.
Touching on the recent terror attack on Pahalgam and India's retaliatory measure in the form of Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar called upon Western watchers to accept the character of the operation. "It is not an India-Pakistan problem. It's a terrorism problem," he said. He also alluded to what had happened earlier in order to drive home his message: "Let me remind you—Osama bin Laden resided in a Pakistani military town, right next to their version of West Point. That very same terrorism will ultimately come back to haunt you."
Jaishankar rebuked global press reporting for reducing the conflict to a "tit-for-tat" between two nuclear nations, contending that this explanation obscured the deeper, international menace of terrorism.
Looking back on Europe's increasing aspiration for "strategic autonomy," he observed a change in the world's dynamics. "Multipolarity is already upon us," Jaishankar said. "Europe has to now make choices on its own strengths and priorities… I hear words like 'strategic autonomy' being uttered—these were words in our lexicon."
Describing the European Union as a “major pole” in the emerging world order, he concluded: “That is precisely why I’m here: to deepen our relationship in this multipolar world.”
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