‘Govt will do whatever necessary to ensure India’s security is protected’

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI):
The government will do whatever necessary to ensure that India’s security is adequately protected, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour, he also assured the house that India is confident that its partners would help deal with regional and global challenges and members should be “reassured of the wisdom of our choices and the strength of our partners”.
The minister said he has had good discussions with the visiting US Secretary of State on various global issues including on human rights, democracy, trafficking and big tech, we well as Afghanistan.
“We have a strong defence and security cooperation with the United States. We have policy exchanges, we conduct exercises, especially maritime exercises. The government of India will always do whatever is necessary to ensure that India’s security is adequately protected,” he told the house when asked if India has sought US help on dealing with China. He said he held very detailed conversation on a number of issues with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“I had spelled them out and we have highlighted that in our approach to many global issues, we too are guided by our quest for a perfect union, but we seek to right many historical wrongs. But, when it comes to freedom, we should not see freedom as non governance or abdication of responsibilities.
“We believe that our conversation on this subject should be balanced. We also feel that we should have the same standards when they look at the issues and that all conversations should be fact-based,” Jaishankar said.
Asked about Quad and its relevance in maintaining maritime security in the South China sea, especially in the wake of China’s interference there, he said India has made its choices which serve our national interests on Indo-Pacific ties.
“We look at Quad as a platform where four countries have come together for the good of the world, who are discussing a range of issues, from providing the world with making vaccines, to education, to connectivity, to maritime security. We are very clear what the Quad is. “I don’t think any narrative which not based on reality which seeks to distort what is happening there will ever gain traction,” he said.
The External Affairs minister said he is very confident that the real objective view of Quad, which India has put forward, will be accepted by the world.