RIC meet: Jaishankar stresses on need to respect international law

At a virtual meeting of Russia-India-China, a trilateral platform of the three countries, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar gave voice to India's injured feelings but did not name any nation.

India on Tuesday held back from sabre-rattling and asked the world’s “leading voices” to act in an exemplary manner by respecting international law and recognising the interests of partners, the only elliptical reference to the recent military tension between India and China on a disputed border.
 

At a virtual meeting of Russia-India-China (RIC), a trilateral platform of the three countries, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar gave voice to India’s injured feelings but did not name any nation.
 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said India and China did not need any help in sorting out their differences. There was no official account of what Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting, which is the first at the level of foreign ministers after the border clash that claimed 20 Indian and an unspecified number of Chinese lives, and has caused a massive anti-Chinese backlash in India.
 

In a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on June 17, Jaishankar had said the violence and casualties were the outcomes of “premeditated and planned action” by Chinese troops aimed at changing the status quo along the line of actual control (LAC).

On Tuesday, as corps commander-level talks on the two sides wound down after 11 hours of conversation, it was clear India was seeking to lower military temperatures while keeping up an economic offensive.
 

Although New Delhi has launched a variety of measures, mostly economic, to make China pay for its actions on the border, interestingly, members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which brings together the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with China as a prime mover, said India should return to the organisation. India had pulled out of talks in November last year but members have said the door remains open for New Delhi.
 

“India has been an important participant in RCEP negotiations since its inauguration in 2012. India’s participation in RCEP will contribute to advancement and prosperity of the region and we wish to emphasize that RCEP remains open for India,” China’s Global Times quoted the RCEP ministerial meeting statement as saying.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Jaishankar emphasised that India had a strong case for being a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Jaishankar referred to the shaping of the world order in the 1940s by the victors of World War II and said the political circumstances of that era didn’t give India due recognition.
 

“This historical injustice has stood uncorrected for the last 75 years, even as the world has changed. Therefore … it is important for the world to realise both the contribution that India made and the need to rectify the past,” he said, noting 2.3 million Indians had fought in the war and another 14 million had participated in wartime production.
 

International affairs, he said, must come to terms with contemporary reality. “The UN began with 50 members, today it has 193. Surely, its decision-making cannot continue to be in denial of this fact. We, the RIC countries, have been active participants in shaping the global agenda. It is India’s hope that we will also now converge on the value of reformed multilateralism,” Jaishankar said.
 

The RIC meeting, originally scheduled for March but put off due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, was organised at Moscow’s initiative to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The special RIC meeting, Jaishankar said, reiterated India’s belief in the “time-tested principles of international relations”.

“But the challenge today is not just one of concepts and norms, but equally of their practice. The leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way,” he said.
 

“Respecting international law, recognising the legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism, and promoting the common good are the only way of building a durable world order,” he added.
 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is in Moscow to participate in the parade and hold meetings with Russia’s defence leadership. An Indian military contingent will be participating in the Victory Day parade.

Many experts and diplomats endorsed Jaishankar’s low-key criticism of China’s conduct. “It makes sense for the government, despite China’s latest provocation, to remain low-key in its public statements so that efforts to find a diplomatic solution are not hindered. Our firmness of resolve to defend our sovereignty and security has been quietly expressed, without rousing public opinion against China’s unacceptable conduct,” former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said.
 

“Even if the current border stand-off is resolved, our policy towards China needs a full review. China cannot retain the initiative to activate border tensions at will. Escalation concerns apart, in our democratic polity the government comes under opposition pressure, media coverage is distracting, and information warfare is conducted to lower morale in India.”