Brussels: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar while speaking at GMF Brussels Forum 2025 said that there is a complex equilibrium in the world as India and China have risen to power, and these countries also happen to be neighbours.
Jaishankar said that apart from border issues, there are trade and economic issues as well.
"But be that as it may, you have a rise of China, you have a rise of India now each one is creating a certain new equilibrium between them and the rising power in the world and then a much more complex equilibrium between the two rising powers who also happen to be neighbors and who sometimes have common neighbours as well," he said.
"So it is an incredibly complicated matrix and there are different dimensions to it, there's the boundary dimension to it, there's the balances if you would, there are economic issues, trade issues," he added.
Jaishankar said that there are concerns as India and China have quite different economic and political models, while some may think that these differences will put each other out.
"There are concerns as we are in a way different economic, social values, models political models so when you look at this relationship it's far more textured and complicated than it would appear at first sight where people really think that you have this country and that country and one will balance the other one will set off the other," he said.
Jaishankar said that unsettled boundary disputes play a huge role in their relations.
"China- I mean it's an obvious fact, but still I have to say- China is an immediate neighbour, okay, it's a neighbor with whom we also have an unsettled boundary. So that's a big factor in our relations," he said.
Jaishankar said that China and India have civilisational ties and have had a parallel rise.
"We have a situation where China and India, who stand out because they're the only two countries with over a billion people, but also because they are two civilisational states in a way, they have a kind of parallel rise. The Chinese started their modernisation ahead of us because I think we had at that time governments perhaps who didn't do what they should have done in those early years," he said.
When Jaishankar was asked if Europe is still naive about China, he said that in the last decade, or 15 years, there has been an evolution.
"I would honestly would have said no, but I would caveat that answer. When I've been coming to Europe pretty much continuously now for about 15 years. Europe 15 or even 10 years ago was in a very different place, so I would point to a certain evolution in Europe's position and stance but I would also make the point it's a very differentiated picture," he said.
Jaishankar added that not all of Europe has been open to that change, but there have been countries that have been more hard-headed.
"Not all of Europe is obviously moving on the same speed and on the same wavelength, so there are some which have a different view, some who are more hard-headed. I would make that distinction vis-a-vis China now," he said.
To this, the interviewer said, "It sounds like sort of where we were with Russia 15 years ago as well."
"Okay, you said it! I don't disagree," Jaishankar responded, as the audience burst into laughter.
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