Europeans needed wake-up call: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on new world order

Vienna, Jan 04: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the European countries needed a wake-up call to understand the shaking up of international order.

Speaking to an Austrian publication, he said, "Europeans needed a wake-up call to understand that the difficult aspects of life are not always taken care of by others, adding, no region will be stable if dominated by a single power."

He pointed out at the defence stand taken by the Europe during 2008 financial crisis and said, "Above all, Europe wanted to develop within its own space and to keep international problems as far away as possible. Europe focused on trade, emphasized multilateralism and used its economic influence to shape the world on its own terms on issues such as climate change and human rights. Europe tended not to want to be involved in tough security issues,"

S Jaishankar recalled how US Presidents like Barack Obama and Donald Trump had agreed that the US could not play the same role in the world stage that it did earlier. "We are already living in dangerous times. This transition to the new world order will take a long time. Because change is big. The Americans were the quickest to realize that they had to reposition themselves and seek cooperation with countries like us," said the minister.

However, he claimed that this realisation came to the Europeans before the Ukraine conflict. "When the Europeans started talking about an Indo-Pacific strategy, it was clear to me that they no longer wanted to be just spectators on developments in other parts of the world," said Jaishankar to Die Presse.

According to EAM, the world order is still Western which needs to be replaced by a world of "multi-alignment" where countries will choose their own "particular policies and preferences and interests." He spoke about how India rejected American and European pressure at the United Nations to condemn the Russian invasion and turned Moscow into its largest oil supplier

"I would still like to see a more rules-based world. But when people start pressing you in the name of a rules-based order to give up, to compromise on what are very deep interests, at that stage I'm afraid it's important to contest that and, if necessary, to call it out," said Jaishankar.

The Union Minister also said that this war has provoked moral outrage in the West over Russian atrocities while highlighting that Western sanctions against Russia have driven up energy, food and fertilizer costs, causing acute economic difficulties in poorer countries.

He took potshots at Europe on the import of Russian oil and said, "Europe has imported six times the fossil fuel energy from Russia that India has done and that if a USD 60,000-per-capita society feels it needs to look after itself, and I accept that as legitimate, they should not expect a USD 2,000-per-capita society to take a hit." Jaishankar further reiterated that India is in no mood to cut ties with Russia, adding that Moscow supported New Delhi with weapons over decades of non-alignment, while the United States cosseted India's archenemy, Pakistan.

Addressing a joint press conference earlier with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg, Jaishankar said they had an open and productive discussion on a range of regional and global situations and by and large, the approaches of both the nations are similar, "though obviously we are located in different regions and we have our particular compulsions".

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday asserted that the effects of cross-border terrorism cannot be contained within a region, especially so when they are deeply connected to narcotics and illegal weapons trade and other forms of international crimes.

"Since the epicentre (of terrorism) is located so close to India, naturally our experiences and insights are useful to others," the minister said without naming any country. Jaishankar, who arrived here from Cyprus, is on the second leg of his two-nation tour.