Need to get out of 'cult worship' that Nehru era was 'great years', says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday took a critical view of some of the key decisions made by the Jawaharlal Nehru government and said one needs to get out of this cult worship that the period from 1946 onwards was great years and the country did splendidlyIn the early years it was very much a Nehruvian ideological bubble when it came to foreign policy and vestiges of that continue even today he said in response to a question during a session at the News18 Rising Bharat SummitA career diplomatturnedpolitician Jaishankar spoke on a range of issues such as Indias role during G20 presidency the criticism surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act abrogation of Article 370 and IndiaChina and IndiaPakistan relations in the current context and the geopolitical scenarioAsked about the legacy of the foreign policy of the government in the early years after independence Jaishankar said You got Pakistan wrong you got China wrong you got US right and we had a great foreign policy So put that asideI am not saying that today benefit of 2024 lets look back 1954 or 1950 I am saying somebody in 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 as you were taking those decisions stood up and said please Mr Nehru what you are doing have you looked at this aspect of it So this is not hindsight these are Nehrus contemporaries who are questioning decisions which Nehru was taking at that point of time he saidThe former foreign secretary cited Syama Prasad Mookerjees views on the NehruLiaquat Pact and views of B R Ambedkar on Nehrus decisions to buttress his claimSo this is not hindsight this is not a political polemic I am placing before the younger generation historical situation which is what I called the road not taken that road was available and that road was marked he saidNow I am not saying they were nobrainers there are pluses and minuses but we need to get out of this cult worship that everything from 1946 till pick your year that these were great years and we did splendidly and if anything went wrong other people were to blameBut Nehrus foreign policy is such an impeccable theology that even today whoever comes to power must follow it And any deviation is somewhere wrong Jaishankar saidAsked if India not facing a twofront situation today he said We havewe have always been it is we who were in denial The external affairs ministers strong remarks on the opposition comes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha electionsCompanies are audited After all a country should also be audited policies should be audited People should look at what happened in the past with an open mind and a critical mind he said adding he would also be very happy to discuss the last 10 years with anyoneHe argued that in the early years after independence it was very much a Nehruvian ideological bubble Nehru was against America so everybody was against America Nehru said China is a great friend everybody said China is a great friend So the vestiges of that continue even todayI mean you have a concept called Chindia and many of you will remember who put that concept forward Jaishankar added On ties with Pakistan he said Indias relations with its neighbours at a formal level are very minimalIt happened for two reasons one is that India has put terrorism fair and square at the centre of the relationship Secondly Pakistans reaction to the longawaited decision on abrogation of Article 370 he saidSo what would the opposition want us to do not do Article 370 because it will upset Pakistan Or talk to Pakistan ignoring that they do terrorism Actually that is what the opposition was doing the minister saidJaishankar asserted that foreign policy is not run as a global popularity exercise and said if you have an appeasement mentality at home you will take it outsideDuring the session he was also asked about domestic politics and the Narendra Modi governments foreign policies in the last 10 years It is not an if it is a when When I go out and explain foreign policy of last 10 years to people I would actually tell them Modi ki Guarantee works as much abroad as it does in the countryIt is Modi ki Guarantee which moved the whole Indian system in Operation Ganga wherein five ministries were deputed Operation Kaveri Operation Vande Bharat during Covid or checking on wellbeing of our people in the Gulf countries during the pandemic he saidModi ki Guarantee also applies in keeping fuel prices within reasonable range the minister said We have a national interest and a national welfare in a way we will do what it takes we will send troops in the height of Covid to defend our northern borders we will react to terrorism in a way that will deter any repetition of such attacks works in different ways he addedJaishankar said he thought that today part of the reason why people respond to foreign policy is that they can see Indias international credibility of weight or influence has gone upHe also responded to criticism of the CAA from the US and other parts of the world The CAA is about being just and fair to people who were caught on the wrong side of history at the time of Partition he saidIf you look at the predicament of these people these are stateless people stateless because of no fault of their own because political leaders of a certain era got it wrong he said Somebody is righting a wrong they are not wronging anybody They are actually righting a situation wherein a wrong has been done to many people Jaishankar saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever