S Jaishankar on Asianet News Samvad: 'Sometimes, international politics is like a T20 match'

The problem with China had been building for a long time, but answers to that challenge needed a leader with strategic clarity, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said while taking part in a special edition of Asianet News Samvad.

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When probed about whether India saw China as the number one threat, Jaishankar told Suvarna News Editor-in-Chief Ajith Hanumakkanavar, "Politics is competitive. International politics is super competitive. It is a Test match as opposed to a Ranji trophy match. Sometimes, it is like a T20 match because you combine with different players; you work sometimes with foreign players. I put it as a continuing competition and sometimes, competition with some countries -- like if you say dispute on a boundary -- that kind of competition is very different. If you have a competition where a country uses terrorism, that is a threat." 

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"Our history over the last 75 years has shown many of the answers. You need a leader with strategic clarity to see those answers. We know that for a long time there is a problem building with China. But if you see, what was the state of border development? Why wasn't the border infrastructure really prepared to deal with those challenges? Everyone saw that challenge. It is really in the last eight years that you see the number of roads and bridges that were built. If today, our armed forces are able to stand their ground in Ladakh, a lot of it is assisted due to better border infrastructure. But there is a long way to go," he added. 

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