Under a strong captain, we are now playing a lead role'

External affairs minister S Jaishankar speaks on a range of issues, including the burgeoning India-US relationship, the current state of India-China ties and New Delhi's decision to abstain during a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution for a humanitarian pause in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict

The world is a difficult place today and will remain turbulent, which is why India needs a steady captain it can trust, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, likening to a storm the conflicts and diplomatic frictions playing out around the world.

During a wide-ranging conversation with HT's editor-in-chief R Sukumar at the 21st edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Jaishankar also highlighted factors driving the burgeoning India-US relationship, including cooperation in defence and critical technologies, and Washington's need for new partners to overcome diverse challenges.

International relations is a "fundamentally competitive exercise", Jaishankar said in the context of the contest between India and China for regional influence, and that New Delhi had allocated billions of dollars for connectivity and infrastructure projects with neighbours such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The minister touched upon the diplomatic spat with Canada, and said that Ottawa cannot allow "separatism, extremism and violence" to propagate in the name of civil liberties.

"Now, I have a very simple smell test for every country in the world-which is, if you think that is right, would you like that to be done to you? And mostly I don't get an answer," he said.