Pune (Maharashtra) [India], April 12 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday emphasised that the 20,000 children who came back from Ukraine were “Modi ki Guarantee,” adding that foreign policy is not just for diplomats, but has an impact on every person’s life.
During an interaction with the youths of Pune on the launch of the Marathi translation of his book: “Why Bharat Matters” he discussed about India’s global rise and improved opportunities on Friday.
“Today’s world is globalised, and it means that whether you believe it or not, the world will come to your door. In the last three years, we have seen the Covid pandemic. It started somewhere else; who thought it’d reach India…and will turn our lives,” EAM Jaishankar said.
He further said that today, the world is connected in terms of technology and mobility.
“During COVID also, we couldn’t stop the people, who were affected by COVID from coming back to India and the virus spread,” he stated.
Jaishankar further highlighted that people sometimes, while visiting other countries, and dealing with conflicts and tensions, get stuck there.
“Sometimes, people also visit the countries, dealing with conflicts and tensions. and you can get stuck in such situations like when the around 20,000 students got stuck in Ukraine in 2022,” he noted.
Stating another example, Jaishankar underscored the Russia-Ukraine war and said that when it began, western countries pushed everyone to halt the import of Russian oil. However, India did not stop importing oil from Russia.
“Another example is when the Ukraine-Russia war began, western countries pushed everyone, especially India, to not import oil from Russia. If we had come under pressure and stopped importing oil from them…then petrol and things related to it would have become expensive in our country,’ he added.
Earlier this week, Jaishankar, while addressing a press briefing in Bikaner, reaffirmed that petrol prices were lower because New Delhi dared to purchase oil from Moscow.
Further, Jaishankar emphasised that India-US relations were strengthened due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s credibility.
EAM shed light on Apple’s decision to make iPhones in India, and said, “Our mobile phones were made because our relations with the US got stronger due to the credibility of PM Modi’s that we would make it easier to do business…the combination of diplomacy and economic policy, hence Apple decided to make iPhones in India instead of China,” he said.
While interacting with the youth, Jaishankar also talked about India’s initiative to make vaccines here during the COVID pandemic.
“Me and the health minister contacted every vaccine producer and supplier and asked them where their supply chain was. This supply chain used to come from around 40 countries, adding that if these chains do not integrate from 40 countries to India, we cannot make the vaccine,” he said.
Jaishankar added that at that time, the US restricted that, until they were done with their work, they would not send vaccines to other nations.
“At that time, the US has restricted that, until our work is done, we won’t send vaccines to other countries. Then we went to the US and requested them, made them understand that this was for everyone’s benefit, and asked them to support us,” he said.
Jaishankar emphasised, “Foreign policy is not just for diplomats…it has an impact on every person’s life.’
He further said that today, if Indians visit abroad, they can go with the “Modi Ki Guarantee”.
“If you go to some other country for travelling or holidays and something happens, today you can go there with “Modi ki guarantee. 20,000 children who came back from Ukraine were modi ki guarantee,” he said.
In 2022, under “Operation Ganga” in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, as many as 18,282 Indians were evacuated, Minister of State for MEA, V Muraleedharan, said during a Lok Sabha session in December last year.
The MoS MEA also stated that in 2023, under Operation Kaveri, a total of 4,097 people (including 136 foreign nationals) were evacuated. As many as 1,343 people including 14 OCI card holders and 20 foreign nationals were also evacuated by India during the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. (ANI)