Amid the diplomatic row between India and Maldives, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar asserted that “politics is politics” and there is no guarantee that every nation will always support India. This was his first reaction to the ongoing Maldives controversy, which erupted after multiple Maldivian ministers used derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following his recent visit to Lakshadweep.
“Politics is politics. I cannot guarantee that in every country, every day, everybody will support us or agree with us,” Jaishankar said, addressing a townhall ‘Manthan’ in Maharashtra’s Nagpur.
“What we are trying to do, and with a lot of success in the last 10 years, is to build a very strong connect,” the External Affairs minister further said.
His remarks came amid deteriorating diplomatic relation between Maldives and India. On Sunday (January 14), Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu proposed that the Indian government withdraw its military presence from the island nation before March 15. Muizzu’s statement came after his trip to China during which he called the latter a “close friend” of the Maldives.