New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that Indo-Pacific was an indication of a future not a throwback to the past and only those harbouring a cold war mindset will see such intentions.
Addressing a global town hall event via video-conferencing, Mr. Jaishankar said, “Indo-Pacific is also a rejection of spheres of influence and all that this may imply. It is a reiteration that the world cannot be frozen for the benefit of a few, even if that is the case with the United Nations.”
His remarks come in the backdrop of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing in the region which has become a major talking point among leading global powers.
He also said that there has been a growing recognition of the logic of the Indo-Pacific in recent times.
The ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific was a notable step, the minister said.
“Apart from the nations of the larger region, we have also seen Germany, France and the Netherlands subscribe to this approach. The need of the day is to give it a practical shape. This can be done by plurilateral diplomatic consultations such as the Quad. Or, it can be furthered in a structured fashion by the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative that India tabled at the East Asia Summit in 2019,” Mr Jaishankar said.
