OZAMA: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar has said as he highlighted that China falls into a somewhat different category due to the presently "abnormal" nature of ties which is an outcome of a violation of border management agreements by Beijing.

On his first official visit to the country, Jaishankar arrived in Santo Domingo. He said, "India has seen a dramatic expansion in connectivity, contacts, and cooperation across the region. In light of cross-border terrorism, Pakistan continues to be an exception to this. This was expressed by Jaishankar on Friday while he was speaking to the Dominican Republic's diplomatic school's students and members of the diplomatic corps in Santo Domingo, Ozama.

We are working to make sure that all of these links strengthen without aiming for exclusivity, whether they are with the US, Europe, Russia, or Japan. China falls into a slightly distinct category as a result of the boundary issue and the abnormality of our existing relationship. That is the result of them breaking agreements regarding border management, he said.

The emergence of China and India at the same time is not without its competitive components, he said. The rise of India's potential global footprint can be used to explain much of what is happening in other regions that are bidding for Africa, the Pacific, or Latin America. He said, "it is frequently the outcome of independent forces like business or movement.

India has been harshly criticising China for violating border management agreements by stationing a sizable army and acting aggressively near the Line of Actual Control in the eastern Ladakh area. This week, India made it clear to China that breaking the border agreements has "eroded" the foundation of their bilateral relations and that any disputes over the border must be settled in accordance with the existing agreements.

Following a bloody altercation near Pangong Lake on May 5, 2020, the eastern Ladakh border standoff broke out. Following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which was the most significant military conflict between the two sides in decades, relations between the two nations took a sharp turn for the worse.

Jaishankar continued in his speech by discussing how India contacts Latin America, how it views the world, and what today's and tomorrow's India should imply. "India's neighbours are obviously where its top priorities are. Given its size and economic power, India's generosity and non-reciprocal approach to cooperation with its smaller neighbours is very much for the benefit of all parties involved. And that's exactly what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I have accomplished over the past ten years," he said.

"Across the region, connection, relationships, and cooperation have dramatically increased. Pakistan is obviously the exception given cross-border terrorism. However, India has always stood up for its neighbours, whether it be during the COVID challenge or more recent debt pressures, the speaker said, citing the example of Sri Lanka, where India provided more than USD 4 billion in economic assistance during the island nation's worst economic crisis in decades.

Jaishankar said that India is attempting to build the idea of extended neighborhoods in order to increase its influence in all directions. India has adopted a strategy known as "the Act East Policy" with ASEAN in an effort to forge a closer relationship with the Indo-Pacific region. India is working with nations like Japan, the US, and Australia to accomplish this goal through a system known as the Quad.

He emphasised the I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE, and USA) grouping's attitude towards the West. To the south, India's view is known by the term Sagar, which is an Indian word for oceans, and to the north, India has been pursuing a strategy to more efficiently connect to Central Asia. "In 2015, Prime Minister Modi offered a broad perspective covering the entire Indian Ocean and its islands for the first time. This later served as the foundation for the emerging Indo-Pacific vision, he said.

We are also practising the strategy of interacting with all significant centres of power. Such multi-alignment accurately depicts the multipolar world. Each engagement obviously has a different weight and has a different focus, he continued.

The minister of external affairs claimed that India has consistently been a steadfast supporter of multilateralism. "This, in our opinion, is essential to the upkeep of world order. Over the years, we have made a lot of contributions, particularly to peacekeeping. The difficulty, he continued, is finding ways to change multilateralism, notably the way the UN and its agencies operate. He predicted that when more nations see the UN is unable to address urgent concerns, they will come to agreements among themselves.

Overall, India is a country that is strongly committed to advancing group solutions for the benefit of the world. Our G-20 leadership this year is committed to concentrating on the real obstacles to global growth and development, he stressed.

In the past ten years, he said, there has been a deliberate development of India's relationship with Latin America. Today, "our trade with Latin America is approaching a volume of USD 50 billion." He also said  in his remarks at the India-Dominican Republic Business Event held here on Friday that the two countries' trade turnover has surpassed USD $1 billion.

Jaishankar further noted that negotiations on a JETCO mechanism between India and the concerned country were successful. He hopes that this mechanism will provide a venue for ongoing meetings to discuss potential for economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries.