NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar, in an interview with ANI, talked about his journey from foreign service to politics and stated he had always desired get raised to the post of foreign secretary, which his visit to minister came as a bolt from the blue in 2019.

The minister also spoke about a variety of other problems, including Congresss allegations, the timing of BBCs documentary on PM Modi, and tensions with China.Tensions with China Indias relationship with major powers is great.

China is an exception due to the fact that it broke arrangements that we have tattooed and has a posture at the border.

As a result we have a counter posture.

Overall Indias relationship with major powers is good.

Relationship with Europe is the best we ever had, said Jaishankar.

Jaishankar said the Modi government had increased the budget plan by five times to increase border infrastructure.Allegations by Congress, Rahul GandhiHitting back at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who has been targeting the Centre over Chinas hostility along the LAC, Jaishankar stated: Please do not buy this narrative that the Indian government is on the defensive, that we are being accommodative ...

If we were being accommodative, then who sent out the Indian Army to LAC? Rahul Gandhi didnt send them.

Narendra Modi sent them ...

It ought to be asked whos informing the reality.

We have today the largest peacetime implementation in our history on the China border.

We are keeping soldiers there at a huge cost with terrific effort.

We have actually increased our infrastructure costs on the border five times in this federal government.

Now inform me who is the protective and accommodative individual, added Jaishankar.On Congress declares that neither the PM nor Jaishankars ministry discuss the word China, the EAM said: They must have some issue understanding words beginning with C.

Its not real.

I think they are deliberately misrepresenting the scenario ...

This government is major about border facilities.

Look at the roads, bridges being made - its tripled.

Dr S Jaishankar: Modi sent army to LAC not Rahul GandhiReferring to Congress and other opposition celebrations outraging over the Chinese building a bridge on the Pangong Lake in 2015, the Minister stated the location had been under illegal profession of China because the 1962 war.

They (China) were constructing a bridge in Pangong Tso.

When did that location come under China? The Chinese first came there in 1958 recorded it in 1962.

The Modi government is being blamed in 2023 for building a bridge that was recorded in 1962? You [Congress] do not have honesty to say when it happened?, said the minister.On Indias global standingTalking about Indias developing foreign policy, Jaishankar said that Indias worldwide standing is clearly much higher and quite strong .

Strategically, there is much more clarity in our own thinking and operations.

We have actually been able to demonstrate to the world that we are an exceptional international power.

On huge international concerns today, I believe the expectation is that India will have an opinion, the minister said.Jaishankar said that the single most crucial action the country had actually taken that enhanced Indias image on the global phase was Vaccine Maitri.

During the Covid duration, India impacted global awareness.

India was not only an effective producer of vaccines for itself and the world, but also a creator of vaccines.

On Quad and other international ties India is going up, it is succeeding.

Why do we have many partnerships? Due to the fact that we agree a lot of people.

How are we managing such various partnerships? Perhaps since we are proficient at it, stated Jaishankar on India partnering in groupings like QUAD and othersOn allegations that India was moving towards the Western Bloc, the minster said that individuals who declare such things must have been on a holiday throughout January when we had 120 nations, primarily from Global South, engaging with us.

Yes, we have good relations with the United States, generally the West.

It is in the nationwide interest.

Jaishankar on Pak economy: Nobody reaches a tight spot all of a sudden and without a cause Our relationship with Russia too has been extremely constant and it has actually been steady through all the turbulence in worldwide politics.

The oppositions job is to criticise however I think today we are in a great position, he said.The minister included that the Gulf also sees todays India as far more reliable than the India of 10 years ago: You ask individuals in the Gulf, do you choose PM Modi or his predecessors? I am willing to take a bet that every one of the Gulf nations will say they choose PM Modi.

Taking a potshot at Rahul Gandhis declaration that the EAM does not understand much about diplomacy matters and requires for more information, Jaishankar stated: If he has remarkable knowledge or wisdom, I am constantly happy to listen.

On BBC documentarySpeaking about the BBCs current documentary vital of PM Modi, Jaishankar said that the timing of the occurrence was curious Do you think the timing was unintentional? I do not understand if election season has started in India, but for sure it has started in London and New York.

This is politics at play by those who do not have the courage to come into the political field, stated the minister.He also hinted that there might have been some collusion with group sticking to similar ideologies.

I am not a conspiracy theorist.

Why is it hard to comprehend that there are ideologies and political forces outside India that are similar to those in India.

The 2 are working hand in glove.

Part of the issue is when political forces in India, which are not doing well electorally, summon up this support group.

On repeated anti-India stories by Western media and NGOs, the minister said that it becomes part of a larger narrative: Dont see this incident by incident.

Consider the last few years - an episode here, an adjective there, a picture elsewhere.

Its like drip, drip, drip on a stone ...

the idea is to shape your cumulative image in a way that youre made to look like an extremist.

Dr S Jaishankar: Ideologies and political forces outside India have echo chambers here too and work hand in glove We had a tough time throughout Covid ...

Look at the protection of our Covid.

Did people not pass away in other countries? Did we see that coverage, did you see that kind of photos from other countries, he asked.

There ought to be and there is a battle for stories which goes on continually.

There will be narratives designed to damage us.

We have actually put stories designed to expose people or designed to put our viewpoint throughout, he added.From bureaucrat to ministerOn his journey from bureaucrat to minister, Jaishankar said his elevation was completely unanticipated.

I didnt make the shift, it took place.

From signing up with politics to ending up being a Cabinet member and standing in the Rajya Sabha, it occurred one by one.

Dr S Jaishankar: My aim was to become foreign secretary, however cabinet minister takes finding out to an entire different level PM Modi had actually asked me to join the Cabinet ...

I had satisfied him first in 2011 in China.

He had actually come there on a visit as Gujarat CM.

He made a huge impression on me.

By 2011, I had actually seen many CMs reoccur however I had not seen anybody come more prepared than him, stated the EAM.

It is a different world, various responsibility, a wider vision.

I might have sat 40 years in the Parliament gallery but its not the same as being on the Parliament floor.

Noting that he belongs to a household of bureaucrats which the political chance as a union minister came as a bolt from the blue in 2019.

On fathers removalJaishankar said his daddy Dr K Subrahmanyam was gotten rid of as Secretary, Defence Production, by previous Prime Minister Indira Gandhi right after she returned to power in 1980 and he was superseded throughout the Rajiv Gandhi duration with somebody junior to him ending up being the Cabinet Secretary.

I wanted to be the best foreign service officer.

And to my mind, the meaning of the very best that you could do was to wind up as a foreign secretary.

In our family, there was likewise, I wont call it pressure, but we were all mindful of the truth that my dad, who was a bureaucrat, had become a Secretary however he was eliminated from his secretaryship.

He ended up being, at that time, most likely the youngest Secretary in the Janata federal government in 1979, Jaishankar said.Dr S Jaishankar: Indira Gandhi eliminated my daddy as secretary in 1980 In 1980, he was Secretary, Defence Production.

In 1980 when Indira Gandhi was re-elected, he was the very first Secretary that she eliminated.

And he was the most well-informed person everyone would say on defence, he added.Jaishankar stated his dad was also an extremely upright individual, may be that caused the issue, I do not understand .

But the truth was that as an individual he saw his own career in bureaucracy, really type of stalled.

And after that, he never ever became a Secretary once again.

He was superseded during the Rajiv Gandhi period for somebody junior to him who became a cabinet secretary.

It was something he felt ...

we rarely spoke about it.

So he was very, very proud when my elder bro ended up being secretary, said Dr Jaishankar.Jaishankar said he became a Secretary to the federal government after his dad passed away.WatchDr S Jaishankar: I look extremely carefully at what individuals are doing both at my celebration and others