Talking about how ‘politics of the day’ should not affect national interest, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Wednesday referred to Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, asking why a temporary provision had continued for so long if it was not for politics of that time.
Terming it a ‘messy’ issue, the Union Minister, who was interacting at an event at IIM Calcutta, said that it is important to put national interest first. The entire world used the ‘mess’ in Jammu and Kashmir for 75 years, he said.
“It’s important that we put the national interest first. Politics of the day should not trump the larger interest of the nation. And clearly, all politicians should have that approach in the first place,” he said.
“It should not lead our borders to be vulnerable. To some extent, we have to create the culture and to some extent, the public opinion on this should come,” he added.
Citing the example of Article 370, he said, “If you look at the whole Article 370 issue…other than the politics of the day, what was the reason for a temporary provision to continue for so long?”
“And the fact that we had such a messy issue there…I mean the entire world used it for the last 75 years.”
Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was revoked by the Narendra Modi government in 2019.
Jaishankar had earlier in September also addressed the issue at an event in Washington. “If you look at the Article 370 issue, what was a temporary provision of the Constitution was finally put to rest. This was supposed to be an act of majoritarian… now tell me what was happening in Kashmir was not majoritarian?” he had said as per ANI.
Stating that people need to be educated on the matter and the politics of Article 370 contested, he had said,”…what is right and what is wrong is confused, this is actually politics at work.”
“We are not serving our country well or our beliefs well or even our sense of right or wrong well by staying out of these debates. If we have opinions, we must express them, we must share them with people and we must educate people on what is right and what is wrong,” the minister had said.
At the event on Wednesday, Jaishankar also spoke the Ukraine conflict. “There is a larger change today underway in international affairs. This emanates from the weaponisation of everything. In recent years, we have already seen, how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become the point of political pressure,” he said.
“The Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope for such leverage. The scale of financial measures, technology controls, infrastructure and service restrictions and seizure of assets has truly been breathtaking. At the same time, it is also a fact that global rules and practices have been gamed for national advantage in a manner that can no longer be overlooked,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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