EAM Jaishankar refutes Western-Non-Western binary, says 'Europe has friends in Asia'

During the meeting of the European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India sees to vigour its relation with the EU while refuting "the Western-Non-Western binary".

Speaking at the Bled Strategic Forum panel, Jaishankar said, "Europe needs to know that it has friends in Asia, in the Indo-Pacific, that share a lot of principles and values that Europe has. By strengthening India-EU relations, we refute the Western-Non-Western binary."

The EAM asserted India and Europe have several existing issues that are meeting points with one of them being Europe stand vis-a-vis Asia and Indo-Pacific. "After 2008, Europe has been much more reticent about articulating its decisions and backing that up beyond its immediate confines," Jaishankar said.

"Today, when you speak about a liberal order, trust and transparency, these are issues which, at one time may have been more central to our Western discourse, but are today increasingly shared beyond the Western world," he added.

During a panel on "Partnership for rule-based orders in the Indo-Pacific", Kenya's Chief Administrative Secretary said that his nation believes in partnerships. "The EU-India partnership is definitely significant. It does present opportunities for engagements," he said.

The other members of the panel discussion include EAM S. Jaishankar, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva and Foreign Minister of Slovenia Dr Anze Logar.

Notably, this was an informal meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council. At present, Slovenia holds the chair of the council of the European Union and invited Jaishankar to attend the informal meeting.

EAM Jaishankar's visit to European Countries

The External Affairs Minister is currently on an official visit to Slovenia, Denmark and Croatia. His official tour, which will last till September 5, is an effort to boost bilateral relations and strengthen co-operation between Indian and Central European countries.

On September 3, EAM will visit Croatia and hold bilateral talks will foreign minister Gordan Grlic Radman. On September 4 and 5, Jaishamr will visit and co-chair the Indo-Danish Joint Commission Meeting also with Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.

With inputs from ANI