By – Prakarsh Kastwar
The Foreign Minister stated, “Sardar Patel was opposed to going to the United Nations.” He had also opposed it in the cases of Junagadh and Hyderabad. He was emphatic that India should not delegate its issue to foreign powers.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar will visit Pakistan on October 15-16 to attend the SCO summit. This will be the first Indian minister’s travel to Pakistan in the recent nine years. When questioned about this, the Foreign Minister stated, “This (SCO) meeting is a multilateral event, and I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations.” I’m merely going as a decent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. I shall behave like a decent and polite person.
Sardar Patel’s Pakistan policy is recognized.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar lauded former Home Minister Sardar Patel’s Pakistan policy at the Sardar Patel Lecture on Administration, which was organized by the IC Centre for Governance. He stated, “Sardar Patel was opposed to going to the United Nations.” He had opposed it even in the instance of Junagadh and Hyderabad. He was emphatic that India should not entrust its issue to other powers. Unfortunately for all of us, his caution was ignored. What began as the ‘Jammu and Kashmir question’ was neatly transformed into the India-Pakistan question. His hesitation to take the subject to the United Nations stemmed from his opinion that it was preferable to deal with Pakistan directly rather than allow it to be influenced.
The foreign minister, when explaining why the SAARC conference will not take place.
added, ‘SAARC is currently not moving forward, so no meeting was called. One of the SAARC nations continues to promote cross-border terrorism. Terrorism is wrong, but despite global acknowledgment, our neighboring countries continue to engage in it. This is why the SAARC summit has not been convened in recent years, but this does not imply that regional activities have ceased; rather, in the last five to six years, regional solidarity in the Indian subcontinent has become even stronger.
Expressing worry on the situation in West Asia.
Regarding the tense situation in West Asia, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated, “The situation in West Asia is not an opportunity but a matter of deep concern.” The level of conflict is rising. We witnessed the terrorist strike and the ensuing counterattack. We witnessed the events in Gaza. We can now see that Israel and Iran are at odds and that the crisis has spread to Lebanon. Red Sea-based Houthi militants are launching an assault. We are bearing the cost of this as well. It is untrue that you will gain if you are impartial. While there are instances where conflict is advantageous, under the current conditions, conflict is making things worse everywhere it occurs.