External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India is recalibrating its neighborhood policy by striking a balance between humanitarian assistance, development cooperation and firm responses to security threats.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Shastra 2026- IIT Madras techno-entertainment fest, Jaishankar said India has “naturally invested” in countries with which it has cooperative relations.
He pointed out that several neighboring countries received the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines from India and the country also provided food aid during the Ukraine conflict, when supply chains were strained.
Referring to Sri Lanka, he said India provided financial assistance of US$ 4 billion during its economic crisis and immediately assisted in rescue and relief operations during the recent cyclone. “That’s what good neighbors do,” he said.
However, Jaishankar said continued cross-border terrorism continues to hinder normal relations with some neighboring countries.
He said, “We have the right to protect our people. If you face terrorism for decades, you cannot have good neighborly relations. You cannot share water or cooperation with anyone who continues terrorism.”
On Bangladesh, Jaishankar said India wishes the country all the best for its elections and hopes that “once the situation becomes normal, good neighborly relations will continue.”
Reiterating India’s long-standing civilizational ties with Afghanistan, Jaishankar acknowledged the challenges faced by the Afghan people. He said he had constructive discussions with his counterpart and expressed hope that “the situation will improve with time.”
Commenting on reports of a woman from Arunachal Pradesh being mistreated by Chinese immigration officials at the Shanghai airport in November, Jaishankar said India has formally protested against the incident.
He said, “A woman from Arunachal Pradesh was detained and ill-treated. We protested against this. Arunachal Pradesh is part of India and will always be so. We expect other countries to respect the laws and norms.”
Jaishankar light-heartedly said that his life is ‘balanced’ despite not having ‘off days’, but his wife might disagree with him!
He said, “There are no days off in my life. It’s not like I work from Monday to Friday and won’t do anything on Saturday-Sunday, because that’s not possible in the world. The world runs on Saturday-Sunday too. My life is very complex; it doesn’t run on any one time frame, nor does it have an on or off button. I try to develop habits, patterns and hobbies within it that will keep me a stable, sane and Create a sociable person who can keep up with the rest of the world.C
He continued, “I listen to music, read books, watch movies, watch sports, most of the time I am absolutely normal. If you include physical activity in your daily routine, make time for reading, writing, thinking, talking, watching, then I can tell you that your daily routine will become so balanced that you will not need to rest, but my wife is sitting here and she might disagree with me.