US Makes “Special Effort Not To Interfere In Domestic Politics”: Jaishankar

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WASHINGTON, DC (ANI) – External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, highlighted the need for mutual respect and boundaries in international diplomacy, particularly between democracies, during a recent discussion on India-US relations at the Carnegie Endowment office in Washington, DC.

During his fireside chat with Carnegie’s President Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuellar on October 1, when asked about US leaders commenting on India’s democracy, Jaishankar stated, “And my personal view, which I have shared with many counterparts, is, look, you have every right to comment. But I have every right to comment on your comment. So don’t feel bad when I do.”

Further, Jaishankar acknowledged the globalized nature of politics, where countries’ internal issues can have international implications. “The world is very globalized,” he noted. “As a result, the politics of any country doesn’t necessarily stay within the national boundaries of the country, adding that “Now, the United States, of course, makes a special effort to ensure it doesn’t. That’s part of how you’ve conducted your foreign policy over many years.”

Jaishankar’s comments come amid ongoing discussions on the US-India relationship. He emphasized that foreign interference is a critical concern and stated, foreign interference is foreign interference.

“But if you look at a state-to-state, government-to-government level, we think it’s important that democracies are mutually respectful. It cannot be that one democracy has a right to comment on another, and that’s part about promoting democracy globally,” he said.

“But when others do that, then it becomes foreign interference. Foreign interference is foreign interference, irrespective of who does it and where it is done,” he added.