“If you want India’s support, then you have to also support us”: Robinder Sachdev on equal partnership with Europe

New Delhi [India], May 5 (ANI): Foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdev on Monday mphasizes that India is a “grown nation" that seeks equal partnerships with Europe, rather than being lectured to. He stresses that if Europe expects India’s support in its problems, it must also support India in its fight against terrorism.

Speaking to ANI, Sachdev emphasized the need for Europe to take a strong stance against Pakistan, particularly after the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

“If you want India’s support in your problems, you also have to support us in our problems. I clearly say tit for tat…Europe absolutely needs partners, and we need partners, but Europe should get over this colonial mindset of preaching and considering only their self-interest and not considering the self-interest and the pain of India."

Sachdev suggested that countries should boycott Pakistan until it takes concrete actions against terrorism. Pointing to the recent Pahalgam terror attack, Sachdev added that countries should take a strong stance against Pakistan, saying, “all friends should just boycott Pakistan."

“We suffer the pain of terrorism. How much and how strongly are they standing with us? Are they all boycotting Pakistan? Because now what the world should be doing, our friends should just boycott Pakistan," he added.

Sachdev advocates for a mutually respectful partnership between India and Europe, where both parties support each other’s interests. Sachdev said that Europe needs to move beyond its colonial mindset of “preaching", considering only its “self-interest," adding that he affirmed India is a “grown nation", now and the days are gone when the West could lecture us.

Sachdev said, “We need partners, not preachers, and we also need Europe to understand that it cannot be that the problems of Europe are the problems of the whole world," he said.

“When we look at the world, we look for partners, we don’t look for the preachers, particularly preachers who don’t practise at home, but they preach abroad…we will have to see if we have to develop a partnership; there has to be some understanding, sensitivity, mutuality of interest, and a realisation of how the world works," he said.

Sachdev noted that India is no longer a nation that can be lectured to by the West. Instead, India seeks partners who understand its interests and concerns, particularly on issues like terrorism. He cited External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that the problems of Europe cannot be the problems of the whole world.

“India is now a grown nation. Gone are the days when the West, especially, could lecture us and tell us which path to take and make and put pressure on us. Now, what we need, the India of today, we need partners, not preachers, and we also need Europe to understand, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, that it cannot be that the problems of Europe are the problems of the whole world. But our problems are only our problems, right?" he added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that while the United States has become more self-sufficient, Europe is facing pressure to adapt to a changing, multipolar world.The Union Minister further said that India wants partnerships, and not preachers, especially those who don’t follow their own advice.

He pointed out that parts of Europe are still struggling to adjust to today’s changing global realities and must seriously reflect if they want meaningful cooperation with India.

Speaking at the Arctic Circle India Forum 2025, Jaishankar said, “We have now reached a size and a stage where almost anything consequential that happens in any corner of the world matters to us. The United States is much more self-sufficient today than it has been in a long time. Europe is today under pressure to change. The realities of multipolarity are dawning on it. I think it has still not adjusted and absorbed it fully. The US has dramatically changed positions. The Chinese are doing what they were doing. We are going to see an arena of contestation, which is not going to be easy to recall. We are looking at a much more contested world, much sharper competition."

The External Affairs Minister said, “When we look at the world, we look for partners, we don’t look for preachers. Particularly, preachers who don’t practice at home what they preach abroad. Some of Europe is still struggling with that problem. Europe has entered a certain zone of reality check. Whether they are able to step up or not is something we will have to see. If we have to develop a partnership, there has to be some understanding, sensitivity, mutuality of interest and a realisation of how the world works."

Notably, India has downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan after the April 22 terrorist attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, leading to the death of 26 individuals and several other injuries, mostly tourists.

The steps include suspending the Indus Water Treaty signed between both countries in 1960. Defence, Military, Naval, and Air Advisors in the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi were declared persona non grata and asked to leave India within a week.

The government has affirmed its resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism. It has been said that the terrorists responsible for the attack and the conspirators behind it will face severe punishment. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

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