Third Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the nuclear test in 1998 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee should not be seen only from the perspective of a test. Rather, after this ‘intense diplomacy’ It should be seen as a result of which India could bring together the major countries of the world within two years.
External Affairs Minister praised Vajpayee government’s diplomacy
He said that as a result of this the visit of the then US President Bill Clinton, the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, the then Prime Minister of Japan Y. Mori, the then French President Jacques Chirac was possible. The External Affairs Minister said that all this could happen only because of diplomacy after the nuclear tests and anyone who was in the field of diplomacy at that time must have experienced this.
Has made significant contribution to national security
He told that he (Jaishankar) was posted in Japan at that time and relations with that country were affected after the nuclear test, but it was due to Vajpayee ji’s intelligence and maturity that we were able to deal with it. Jaishankar said that as a parliamentarian, foreign minister and then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee really made a significant contribution to shaping India’s national security and policy discourse.
He said that when the relations in the world were going through a phase of change, then his contribution in furthering the relations with America as well as continuing and stabilizing the relations with Russia is important. Jaishankar said that Vajpayee’s visit to China as Foreign Minister and later as Prime Minister is an example of his readiness to take forward relations in the neighborhood (Pakistan) and adopt all measures for this.