‘Not Expecting Neighbours To Do Only What’s In My Interest’: Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar On Bangladesh, Pakistan, China

[Ali_Baba]

‘Not Expecting Neighbours To Do Only What’s In My Interest’: External Affairs MinisterJaishankar On Bangladesh, Pakistan, China​

August 23, 2026, 11:02 IST

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India’s relations with its neighbours must be based on mutual interest, as he spoke about ties with Bangladesh, Pakistan and China amid continuing regional tensions.

Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Jaishankar said India did not expect neighbouring countries to always act in New Delhi’s interest. He said relationships work when both sides are able to find common ground.

‘It Has To Work For Them, It Has To Work For Us’​

Jaishankar was responding to a question on Bangladesh’s demand for the extradition of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, amid reports that Dhaka has linked Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s possible visit to New Delhi to the issue.

He declined to discuss the details of the talks between India and Bangladesh but said bilateral ties had to pass the “test of mutual interest".

“What I can tell you is for any relationship to work, it has to meet the test of mutual interest. It has to work for them, it has to work for us," Jaishankar said. He added that India was realistic about its neighbourhood and did not expect other countries to do only what was in its interest.

“There has to be a fair degree, a reasonable degree of my recognising and respecting what is their interest, just as I expect them also to do so," he said.

Jaishankar said that once the two sides found a “landing point" or “common ground", relations could move smoothly. He said the principle of mutuality applied to India’s relations with all its neighbours.

Tarique Rahman Visit In Focus​

India has invited Rahman for a bilateral visit and also to attend the upcoming BRICS Summit in his capacity as chair of the Bimstec grouping.

Plans for a visit next week fell through at the last minute. India and Bangladesh are now in touch to arrange the visit later this month or in early September, people familiar with the matter said.

Rahman’s visit is seen as important for efforts to reset India-Bangladesh ties, which have faced unprecedented strains. Hasina’s presence in India has remained a key irritant in the relationship.

Pakistan Is ‘Unique’ On Terrorism​

On Pakistan, Jaishankar said the Indian government could not ignore public opinion, particularly over terrorism. He said people in India viewed Pakistan as a country that “does not empathise with us, does not understand our point of view" on terrorism.

Asked about improving Pakistan-US relations and their possible impact on India, Jaishankar said the US and Pakistan had a long history of relations.

But he singled out Pakistan for its use of terrorism against India.

“Pakistan is unique not because it’s a neighbour of India… It is unique because in this day and age, there is no other country which uses terrorism so systematically and in such a sustained manner to attack and pressure another neighbour," he said.

India Will Factor In Makkah Pact​

Jaishankar also discussed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. He questioned what the agreement had achieved in response to the “live military situations" faced by its signatories. At the same time, he said India would take the pact into account while assessing its security environment.

“In my calculus, everything counts, everything will have a weight…and sometimes things need to play out," he said.

He added that everything done by a player who was “not well disposed towards me" would form part of India’s calculations.

‘Peace On Border’ Key To China Ties​

On China, Jaishankar reiterated that the situation along the border would determine the broader relationship between the two countries.

He said India and China were both large economies, part of supply chains, markets for each other and engaged in economic interaction. Both also had a political and strategic interest in maintaining a stable relationship.

Jaishankar said the two countries had gone through a particularly difficult period between the summer of 2020 and autumn of 2024, which he attributed primarily to the situation in the border areas.

“At the end of the day, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for good relations," he said.

He also acknowledged reports of Indian businesspeople facing difficulties in obtaining Chinese visas and said the matter had been raised with Beijing.
Jaishankar said India needed to strengthen its capabilities while continuing to engage with the entire world, including China.

“The world is competitive, we must build up our strengths," he said, adding that India must deal with China confidently and “stand our ground", as it had done on the border.

Mr laser eyes has been quiet for sometime, and now these "pearls of wisdom".. lol,,

 

[Neojinnah]

Read it fully

Basically, "we are the biggest victims in the world and therefore we get to squat on this land because it belonged to [insert random ancient ruler] thousands of years ago"

This picture makes so much more sense now. Sanatan truly is the Zionism of South Asia

 

[Vikramaditya1]

Yes sir. Re-read very carefully.

He is asking us to empathise with a subjective perspective, a "POV" as you put it, no longer with objective truths.

Well, we don't give a damn about Jayshanker's personal opinions. Did we ever?

No, he is saying you're a country that does not empathize not asking you to, two different things. He is infact making a statement like I said. You're devoid of any empathy.

If you didn't give a damn about it, you wouldn't be writing about it. Regardless, he is EAM, in here he controls foreign policy.

 

[Raj-Hindustani]

Imagine this scenario - A bigoted Muslim prince starts slaughtering his Hindu majority kingdom's inhabitants. His subjects start fighting back and Pakistan swoops in to save him and grabs all the land, claiming it as its own. Even though the inhabitants have nothing in common with Pakistanis and don't want anything to do with them, they are told their land is an integral part of Pakistan.

This is what happened to Kashmir. Can you find an equivalent scenario like the one above which gives India the right to start making more territorial claims, as if they're not already unjustly squatting on vast swathes of land???

Your analogy is conveniently missing the parts of Kashmir’s actual history that don't fit your narrative.
If a Muslim ruler, Hindu ruler, Buddhist ruler, or anyone else historically ruled a territory, that doesn't magically give another country ownership of it. And if religious demographics are enough to justify territorial claims, then congratulations—you've just opened Pandora's box for half the world's borders.

By that logic, every country can start digging through centuries of history, find some ruler or religious majority that suits them, and announce: “This was ours, therefore it is ours again.”
That's not a principle. That's cherry-picking history to justify the conclusion you've already decided on.
And before lecturing others about “squatting” on territory, maybe acknowledge that Kashmir's history isn't a children's story where Pakistan simply arrived as the heroic liberator and India randomly stole the land. The actual history is considerably messier

So your entire argument is basically: “Kashmir had a Muslim-majority population, therefore Pakistan gets to claim it.”
Fine. Then apply that principle consistently.
If religious demographics automatically give a country the right to annex territory, you’ve just created a rule that could be used to redraw borders all over the world. And if you don't accept that rule everywhere, then it's not a principle—it's just a convenient argument you're using for Kashmir.
Historical rulers, religion and demographics can all be discussed, but none of them gives you a magic “this land belongs to us” card.

 

[SABRE]

Yep then they play innocent .

Tensions with China, China fault.
Tensions with Pakistan, Pakistan fault.
Tensions with Bangladesh, Bangladesh fault.
Tensions with Nepal, Nepal fault.

Well at least they get on with their smallest neighbour Bhutan.

& That's Bhutan's fault