'More regional integration seen in Indian subcontinent over last 5-6 years than since partition': Jaishankar

In the past 5-6 years, the Indian subcontinent has witnessed far more regional integration than since the partition of India, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

While responding to a question during the Sardar Patel Lecture on Governance organised by the IC Centre for Governance in New Delhi on Saturday (5 October), the Indian External Affairs Minister highlighted connectivity with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar with road and railway links.

Jaishankar also said their refineries give fuel to Nepal and Bangladesh.

He said India is pursuing "neighbourhood first" policy and as a big country, it must put in maximum resources.

Talking about why a SAARC meeting has not happened in recent years, Jaishankar said that does not mean regional activities have stopped.

"In fact, in the last 5-6 years, we have seen far more regional integration in the Indian subcontinent," he added.

India remains firm on its stance of not holding bilateral talks with Pakistan until it puts an end to cross-border terrorism.

Jaishankar also indirectly criticised Pakistan, blaming it for the lack of progress in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

"At the moment, SAARC is not moving forward, we haven't had a meeting of SAARC for a very simple reason—there is one member of SAARC who is practising cross-border terrorism at least against one more member of SAARC, maybe more...," he said.

Jaishankar said terrorism is something which is unacceptable and "despite a global view of it if one of our neighbours continues to do it—there cannot be business as usual in SAARC."

Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus recently called for the revival of SAARC as a top platform for regional cooperation in South Asia.

"Reviving SAARC could be a good way to start it and seek Pakistan's support," he said when he met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters.

Jaishankar said there are no plans to engage in talks with Pakistan during his upcoming visit to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.

The Indian minister stressed that his trip to Pakistan will be purely for the SCO summit. "Yes, I am scheduled to go to Pakistan in the middle of this month and that is for the meeting of the SCO—the heads of government meeting," he said

Jaishankar also addressed the likely media attention surrounding the visit due to the nature of India-Pakistan relations.

"I expect that there would be a lot of media interest because the very nature of the relationship is such and I think we will deal with it. But, I do want to say it will be there for a multilateral event, I mean I am not going there to discuss India-Pakistan relations," he said.

He said he is going there to be a good member of the SCO. "Since I am a courteous and civil person, I will behave myself accordingly."

Jaishankar said this year's SCO summit is being hosted in Islamabad, as Pakistan, like India, recently joined the organisation.

"Normally, the Prime Minister goes to the high-level meeting, the heads of state, that's in line with the tradition. It so happens that the meeting is taking place in Pakistan, because, like us, they are a relatively recent member," he said.