External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the launch of the Aravalli Summit, organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies on Monday, October 6, 2025. Photo credit: X/DrSJaishankar
India has always exerted its strategic autonomy, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, referring to India’s decision to sign a friendship pact with the Soviet Union in 1971, as a “necessary” choice, given the triangular threats India faced from the other big powers, the United States and China. Speaking at the launch of the Aravalli Summit, organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) School of International Studies, marking its 70th anniversary, Mr. Jaishankar, an alumnus of the school himself, said that it was necessary for students of foreign policy to factor a future of multi-alignment and multipolarity. Mr. Jaishankar said recent global volatility, including the imposition of tariffs by the U.S., had made the case for multi-alignment, more than allying with any one power, much stronger.“Imagine if [India were] not today adopting strategic autonomy. Please tell me, which country in the world would you like to join up with and put [India’s] future in their hands?” he asked. “I can’t think of anybody. [India’s] interest is best secured by maximising its options, maintaining [its] freedom of choices,” he said. Mr. Jaishankar’s comments came a day after he said that trade negotiations with the U.S. would have to respect India’s “red-lines”. Published - October 06, 2025 10:01 pm IST
