'Not all of it is India's fault': Shashi Tharoor on Maldives and border disputes
The Congress leader was speaking at a talk show at the Kolkata International Book Fair. According to the report, he said that while relations with Maldives at present are not good, that with Sri Lanka was not too bad, while that with Bangladesh is pretty good. "Relations with Pakistan are in bad shape, Nepal is more and more subject to Chinese influence and Chinese influence is also increasing in Bhutan," Tharoor said while talking about India's position vis-a-vis smaller countries in the periphery.
ALSO READ: Maldives Opposition parties flag Mohamed Muizzu government's ‘anti-India’ pivot: ‘Long-standing ally will be…’ "On the whole, we are not doing very well in the border areas, but not all of it is India's fault," he said that it is important that India's foreign policy takes into account its national interest first. Shashi Tharoor said it is not possible for India to remain “truly non-aligned" with China sitting on India's frontiers. He said that the world, being in disorder, has shaken some of the assumptions of India's foreign policy.
"We are still non-aligned and a member of the non-aligned movement. But what does that mean anymore is not very clear, because the two superpowers are no longer the US and the (erstwhile) Soviet Union. They are the US and increasingly China," Tharoor was quoted by PTI as saying.
ALSO READ: India-Maldives row: Jaishankar holds 'frank conversation' with Zameer on Indian troop withdrawal Tharoor added that in this situation, India cannot be truly non-aligned with a hostile China "sitting at India's frontiers". He said that if China were to take a "more directly belligerent posture, there is every likelihood that hard choices will have to be made by India". ALSO READ: India-Maldives row:
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