'Except for China, Pakistan...': EAM Jaishankar says India's relationship with neighbours much better

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said New Delhi has challenging relationships with China, but added that the country is confident and capable of advancing and defending its interests. He also rejected the opposition's charge that the relationship with neighbouring countries has taken a hit under the Modi government. "If we talk about neighbours, please go to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and ask people what they think," Jaishankar said while addressing a gathering in Kerala. 

"During their deepest economic trouble, who stood by? Go to Nepal and ask them. I won't agree that our neighbourhood is not in our favour," the foreign minister said. "There may be forces in the neighbourhood and 'forces behind forces' who create problems, and there may be people in India who like to play out this problem. But, Our relationship with neighbouring countries except Pakistan and China has been much better than it has been for a long time."

The charge that India's relationship with neighbouring countries has plunged was made after Maldives tilted towards China, and a 'Boycott India' campaign started in Bangladesh. While Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has toughened his stand against India, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has backed New Delhi. 

India's relationship with China nosedived after the PLA unilaterally entered the areas in East Ladakh claimed by New Delhi. Since then, both sides have engaged in multiple rounds of diplomatic and high-level military talks to resolve the standoff, without much breakthrough. 

Jaishankar has, on several occasions, admitted that India's relationship with China is not normal. "We need to recognise that we have a very challenging, strategic neighbour. It's not just about the boundary issue. There are major economic issues as well," the minister said at the India Today Conclave 2024.

The EAM noted that while the relationship with China deteriorated after the 2020 Galwan clashes, the tensions were building up over some time. "Because we weren't honest about it to ourselves, we weren't articulating it and strategising it according to it," he said. "There was a time when we said we are China's strategic partner. If I were to say this today people would be baffled."