The world we wake up is no longer the one in which we went to bed by believing. It was the message from the Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar to BT Mindrush, where he exposed the long -standing global dynamics shaping the perceptions of China and India. In a sharp reflection, he said: “China has always been – for not always, but for a long time – a strategic objective of the West … Renting their achievements, history and making us work was also a strategic constraint.”
In a world where stories shape power, Jaishankar suggested that India is starting from a more difficult place – and must work harder to make its presence feel.
Speaking at BT Mindrush, the Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar offered a historical vision of the perception gap between India and China in the world arena. He said: “China has always been – for not always, but for a long time – a strategic objective of the West … Building them as a society, praising their … achievements, history and directing to us was also a strategic constraint.”
He linked this to the decisions made in the 19th century, during the colonial period. “What has happened in recent years, I think that is the result of what has been going on for about 200 years,” said Jaishankar. He explained that if the British systematically undermined Indian history during colonization, they simultaneously supported and projected Chinese history for strategic reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=midrstcWorm
“They were afraid at that time that Zarist Russia would come to occupy China,” he said, referring to Western motivations in the 1800s. “If you look at the 19th century, for example, the greatest defenders of China were the United Kingdom and America-especially American missionaries.” He quoted Pearl S. Buck, the author of the Nobel winner, as a cultural product of this first Western push to promote China.
Jaishankar stressed that the image competition that India is faced today from “very different starting points”. He added: “I think we have a more difficult job and therefore we will work harder … in the way the world is today, we sleep knowing that the world is in a way.”
