German chancellor concurs with Jaishankar's 'European mindset' remark, says he has a point

An old viral comment by India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar hitting out on an entitled ‘European mindset’ was quoted by a senior European leader at a recent security conference in Germany. Essentially agreeing with what Jaishankar had said about the European mindset one year ago, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Jaishankar has a point.

A year ago, at the 17th edition of the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum in Slovakia,, foreign minister Jaishankar was asked about why he thinks anyone will help New Delhi, in case of a problem with China, after India failed to help others in Ukraine.

To which, Jaishankar had replied that “Somewhere Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems.”

And, added, “That if it is you, it’s yours, if it is me it is ours. I see reflections of that.”

Also read: Era when progress was equated with westernisation behind us: Jaishankar

At the Munich Security Conference on Friday (February 17), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz referred to this quote from the Indian external affairs minister and said it is being included in this year’s Munich Security Report. And, went on to add that Jaishankar has a point, “it wouldn’t be Europe’s problem alone if the law of the strong were to assert itself in international relations”.

Further, he added, that to be a credible European or North American in Jakarta, New Delhi, it is not enough to emphasise shared values. “We have to generally address the interests and concerns of these countries as a basic prerequisite for joint action. And that’s why it was so important to me to not merely have representatives of Asia, Africa, and Latin America at the negotiating table during the G Seven Summit last June.”

He added, “I really wanted to work with these regions to find solutions to the main challenges they face growing poverty and hunger, partly as a consequence of Russia’s war, as well as the impact of climate change or COVID-19.”

Jaishankar, while making the ‘European mindset’ observation, had also pointed out that there is a linkage today which is being made between China and India and what’s happening in Ukraine. “China and India happened way before anything happened in Ukraine. The Chinese do not need a precedent somewhere else on how to engage us or not engage us or be difficult with us or not be difficult with us,” he asserted.