India has to find ground of mutual interest with Bangladesh: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that India has to find a ground of mutual interest with Bangladesh and India would deal with ‘the government of the day’.

Speaking at the release of Ambassdor Rajiv Sikri’s new book, “Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy”, the External Affairs minister said that the political changes in Bangladesh can be ‘disruptive’.

“Since Bangladesh’s independence, our relationship has gone up and down, and it is natural that we will deal with the government of the day. But we also have to recognise that there are political changes, and they can be disruptive. And clearly here we have to look for mutuality of interest,” Jaishankar said.

Speaking about Maldives, EAM S Jaishankar said that India’s relations with Maldives went through several ups and downs.

“Where Maldives is concerned, we’ve had ups and downs. Ups and downs, were not just in the nature of the regime, but in our own approach to Maldives. We’ve had the 1988 intervention, but yet we were very impassive in 2012 when there was a change of government. There is a certain lack of constancy here, but it is a relationship in which we are very deeply invested, and there is today a recognition in Maldives,” he said.

Jaishankar added that during his recent visit to Maldives, he realised that the island’s relationship with India is a steadying force.

“I saw that in my recent visit that this relationship is a steadying force as they get into somewhat choppy waters where their own prospects are concerned, especially in terms of the economic challenges,” he said.

On 11 August, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President Abdulla Shahid met with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during his visit to Male on Saturday, expressing confidence that India will always be the first to assist the Maldives in times of need.

Shahid acknowledged the economic and diplomatic setbacks caused by the previous government’s anti-India stance and welcomed the current shift towards improved relations.

Jaishankar on Friday also did some plainspeaking about India’s relationship with its neighbour Pakistan.

He said that the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is ‘over’.

“I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. And insofar as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think Article 370 is done. So the, the issue today is what kind of relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan? Rajiv [Sikri] suggests [in his book] that perhaps India is content to continue at the current level of relationship. Maybe yes, maybe no... We are not passive. And whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way, we will react to it,” S Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar also said that there are strong people-to-people ties with Afghanistan.

“Where Afghanistan is concerned, there are... strong people to people relations. There is actually, at a societal level, there is a certain goodwill for India. But as we look at Afghanistan, I think the basics of statecraft should not be forgotten. There are international relations at work here. So when we today review our afghan policy, I think we are very clear eyed about our interests. We are not confused by ‘inherited wisdom’ that is before us,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister said that Afghanistan with the presence of American forces is very different from Afghanistan without the presence of America.

“We must appreciate that the Afghanistan with the presence of America for us is very different from the Afghanistan without the presence of America,” Jaishankar said.

Talking about Myanmar, Jaishankar said that the context of Northeast is an overriding one.

“Going further east, there is Myanmar, which is both- relevant and remote at the same time. And here again, I think the northeast, the context of the Northeast or Northeast is the overriding one. And we... have to find a balance between the government and other stakeholders, because that is the reality,” he said.