Sushma Swaraj presents a three-month report card of the External Affairs Ministry
India's relationship with China is one of cooperation and competition, said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj today, presenting a three-month report card of her department.
"We have very good relations with China but I must articulate that our relationship is that of cooperation and competition... When PM Modi met President Xi Jingping in Portuguesa, they had a very good equation. I think the outcome of this visit will be substantial and solid," she said about the Chinese president's visit scheduled later this month.
Ms Swaraj said the Narendra Modi government's foreign policy has revealed that it is "strong, sensitive and pro-active."
India, she said, has sent out some strong messages since the new government took over. It had called off foreign secretary level talks with Pakistan over its envoy insisting on holding discussions with Kashmiri separatist leaders.
She also said New Delhi did some plain-speak with the US on reports that its National Security Agency had spied on ruling party BJP. "We told the US you call us a friend and spy on us?" Ms Swaraj said.
The government's sensitive face, she said was revealed in the way the government evacuated 1,000 Indian students from war-torn Ukraine and stranded nurses from Iraq and Libya.
The Narendra Modi government, she said, set the tone for a vigorous foreign policy on the very first day of work when the Prime Minister and she held bilateral talks with leaders of eight neighbouring countries who attended Mr Modi's swearing-in ceremony the previous day.
She also explained the BJP government's "Look East" policy, pointing to many engagements with leaders from countries to the east of India, in the last six months, among them Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much watched visit to Japan last week.