Govt has Internationalised J&K, Re-hyphenated India, Pak: Former FS Shyam Saran

Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran has told Karan Thapar in an interview for the Wire that a consequence of recent developments is that Kashmir has been internationalised and India seems to be getting rehyphenated with Pakistan. He also said that India's declining growth was shrinking the country's diplomatic space and strategic importance. As he put it, the nuclear deal was possible because India was growing at 8 and 9 per cent levels. It would not have happened at 5 percent levels of growth. Mr Saran said he was "deeply worried" about this. In a wide ranging 46 mt interview, Mr Saran spoke about the recently concluded India-China summit, India's diplomatic success in convincing the world the constitutional changes in Kashmir are an internal matter and the international concern about the lockdown, detentions and allegations of human rights violence. He suggested that India would have to get used to President Trump's balancing of India and Pakistan. He also said that's whilst India was used to western press criticism we need to find a way of responding g to it effectively. He said alot would depend on whether India can restore normalcy in Kashmir. If that happens international concern would largely cease. However he said he was more perturbed by the domestic implications of what has happened in Kashmir: could it happen in another state? And what does it mean for the functioning of our democracy and our adherence to the constitution? He ended by saying that from a foreign policy stand point getting back to 8 per cent growth was critical.

This video draws on The Wire Analysis articles from December 2018 and October 2019: https://thewire.in/government/eight-q... and https://thewire.in/government/as-rajn...

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