New Delhi: India does not need to be scared of China and it has the capability and confidence to compete with the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with NDTV on Wednesday, the minister said India is in a very strong position in the neighbourhood when it comes to connectivity projects, mobility of people, the social and intellectual spheres, trade, and by every other yardstick.
Mr Jaishankar also acknowledged, however, that we are living in a competitive world and India should not assume that China will not try to influence its neighbours. "They had been doing this," he said.
To a question on how he saw the possibility of China's slowing economy, foreign investors leaving and the country's other difficulties making India complacent, the minister said in Hindi, "They will also have their ups and downs. But I am looking at this from the angle of diplomatic foreign policy competition. India must learn to compete. We must compete with China, but not only them. There may be some Western nations as well, whose interests and thinking may be different from ours."
"Diplomacy is about every country trying to change the situation according to their interests. If you and I differ on something, you would want to have your way, I would want to have mine. This competition is natural. Which is why I use a sports analogy. In sport, no one expects another team to go easy on you. Everyone tries to win. This is the mindset we need to have," he said.
Mr Jaishankar said it is natural for the competition between India and China to be greater because both countries are rising powers.
'New Industries Coming In'
Asked about the concept of 'China Plus' and how India is building its economic muscle, the minister said the term seems to imply that the focus is only on getting companies out of the larger neighbour and into the country.
"The truth is that new industries are coming into India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a semiconductor mission. Several chip manufacturers are investing in India. This does not mean that they are leaving China and coming to Bharat. It can also mean that they are trying to build up their production capacity," he said.
The minister pointed out that the semiconductor industry is not a new one, but its importance is rising because of the increasing use of chips and because the world is becoming increasingly data-driven and focusing on artificial intelligence. He said the industry is looking to expand and every country is trying to woo the companies.
"In my book - 'Why Bharat Matters' - I have written that we need to build deep national strengths. Till India has technology strengths, we cannot be a leading power. For this, we have to compete. But we have a big advantage - no other country has so many engineers and such quality of human resources. Our focus is on leveraging this," he said.