‘India isn’t trying to control every political move of every neighbour’: S. Jaishankar

India's External Affairs Minister clarifies India's financial assistance to neighbouring countries is not politically motivated or controlling.

“India was not engaged in financial assistance and projects with neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with a view to controlling these countries’ internal political dynamics,” External Affairs S. Jaishankar said. He made these remarks while answering questions after a discussion at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.

The minister said the financial assistance of around $4.5 billion that India has given Sri Lanka was not offered with conditionalities, referring to a bail-out given to Sri Lanka at the peak of the island nation’s economic crisis in 2022.

“It was not that we had a political conditionality which accompanied that. I mean, we were doing it as a good neighbour who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep,” he said, responding to a question about an apparent lack of benefit in return for unconditional aid provided to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“So I think what happens politically in Sri Lanka, that’s for their politics to work with at the end of the day,” the minister said, adding that it was not India’s intention to suggest that the political dynamics in its neighbouring countries ought to adhere to what was better for India.

The questioner had asked about attacks on minorities, specifically Hindus and Buddhists, in Bangladesh, after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina administration. The Modi administration has in several instances raised the issue of attacks on Hindu minorities and temples in other countries with the governments in these countries.

The case of Bangladesh was a little bit different, as per Mr. Jaishankar and India had also benefitted from joint projects.

“So I would urge you not to be deterministic about it, he said, adding, “It’s not as though India is seeking to control every political move of every neighbour.”