External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has seen that India sees “an opportunity" in the current situation concerning the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on several countries. Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, Jaishankar said that while it’s not the right time to speak on the impact of the tariffs on India, as that is yet to be known, India’s strategy to engage with the Trump administration on the issue is not something negative.
Jaishankar said, “Our strategy has been clear that we will engage with the Trump administration early on these issues. We’ve been open with them as they have been with us. We are trying to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement by the fall of this year. We are the only country that has engaged with the Trump administration on this. This trade agreement has long been our objective, and there can be no better time for it than now."
Emphasising India’s engagement with the US after Trump took over as the President, Jaishankar said, “I think today when I look back at the last time since PM Modi’s visit to the US, we’ve had multiple rounds of talks with the US. I think we had more discussion with Americans in the last six weeks than what we have had with European leaders in the past two years."
Talking about India’s engagement with European nations in the middle of the Russia- Ukraine war and the US tariffs, Jaishankar said, “There is a natural growth protentional in the Gulf, Europe, Latin America, US. It’s been our endeavour to have negotiations with Europe on FT, and we have been pressing the Europeans for engagement. We see an opportunity in the current situation with the US."
Jaishankar added that India was hopeful of closing the FTA talks this year. “Europeans were serious about the FTA earlier. Typically, they have taken much longer periods between interacting with each other. Europe today realises the importance of deeper ties with India and the relevance of the FTA for that purpose. There is a serious message coming out of Europe that we want to move forward on this. And I see a very intense engagement with the SUS and the UK also. We have an aspirational goal, we hope to close the FTA this year," Jaishankar said.
Speaking on India’s ties with China, Jaishankar said while the relationship was better than what it was this time last year, there were still issues that needed to resolved and “work that needs to be done".
While the Depsang and Depsong disengagement has been a positive sign, Jaishankar said there were still issues like resuming direct flights, which were stopped during COVID-19. “Direct flights to the Kailash Man Sarovar yatra stopped during Covid. They have not yet been resumed.
Speaking on India’s relationship with Bangladesh, specially under the current circumstances in the neighbourhood country and on PM Modi’s meeting with Muhammad Yunus, Jaishankar said, “I think the main message from our side which came from the meeting is that our relationship with Bangladesh is unique. It is fundamentally people to people connect and not about the government of the day.
He added that India has been open about concerns coming out of the current rhetoric in Bangladesh and the attacks on minorities in the neighbouring country.
Jaishankar stated that there was no other country that wished as well for Bangladesh than India. “As a well-wisher, we want them to do the right thing. A democracy requires election and we hope they go down that path," the EAM said.
Jaishankar reiterated how Pakistan was a “terror factory". “I don’t have to sayi;;, it’s visible, even they say it. It’s not like I am making an accusation, and everybody in Pakistan is denying it. You have people in Pakistan who openly declare that they are doing terrorist activity in India. This is not a hypothesis, this is something they proudly claim. All sensible people have maintained that if you start a terrorism industry, you will be consumed by it, and that is what we are seeing today," he said.
Speaking on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks convict Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India, Jaishankar said India welcomes the US’s decision to send Rana to the country.
When asked about the situation in Balochistan, Jaishankar said, “In Balochistan, there is a very disturbed situation; people are suffering. If I say something, there will be finger-pointing, so I don’t want to say anything."
When asked about sour ties between India and Canada over the past year, Jaishankar said that he would encourage both the nations to resolve issues and mend the relationship. Sounding cautious, he also said that he would be careful about commenting on Canada since the country is set to go to elections later this year.
On Khalistani elements in Canada, Jaishankar said, “If you encourage, import secessionism, there are consequences for your own. We see them recognising the problem, not platforming such forces. We will take that into account."
When asked what he saw as the biggest achievement of India’s foreign policy in his tenure as EAM, Jaishankar said it was the ability to maintain the rise of Bharat under “extremely turbulent" global times.
