• Source:JND

In a sharp rebuke to the United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday said that India's growth will not be determined by the mistakes of others but its own strength.

Speaking at The Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar said, "The rise of India will be determined by India… It will be determined by our strength, not by the mistakes of others."

Jaishankar said this while speaking on India's role in the Indian Ocean Region. He said, "If we have to build a kind of an Indian Ocean sentiment or identity, it has to be backed up with resources, work, commitments, practical projects... There are different dimensions of how you build the Indian Ocean... On why the Indian Ocean is the only ocean named after a country - we are right in the middle of it... With our growth, other countries of the Indian Ocean stand to benefit. Those who work with us will get more benefits... The rise of India will be determined by India... It will be determined by our strength, not by the mistakes of others..."

What did Landau say?

The remarks came days after Landau, at the same event, said that the American administration will not make the same mistake with India that was made with China decades ago.

"We’re not going to make the same mistakes with India that we made with China 20 years ago in terms of saying, ‘We’re going to let you develop all these markets,’ and then the next thing we know, you’re beating us in commercial things," Landau said.

"We are going to make sure that whatever we do is fair to our people. Because ultimately, we have to be accountable to our own people, just as the government of India has to be accountable to its people," he added.

Centre under fire over US's repeated targeting

Landau's comments, made on Indian soil and at an Indian event, triggered criticism of the Centre that it was following dictates of the US.

Recently, a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil also didn't go well for the government. During the announcement, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday said a waiver from American sanctions will "allow" Indian refiners to buy Russian oil.

Congress questioned the government about under what capacity the US is "allowing' Indian refiners, adding its persisting allegations of "compromised PM."

Bessant later told the media that India was allowed as part of Trump's "American Energy Dominance."

"The Indians had been very good actors. We had asked them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this fall, and they did. They were going to substitute it with US oil. But to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world, we have given them permission to accept the Russian oil," Bessent told Fox News.


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