Summary
Speaking at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York after a week at the UN General Assembly, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar gave India's first reaction to last week's summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.
He said the two powers may share some points of convergence but remain in a competitive mode overall and that there are limits to what they can agree on for the rest of the world. Other countries, India included, are therefore looking to de-risk, diversify, find new partners and extract more value from existing ones.
On India-US trade talks, he said the two sides now have more or less an understanding, after a negotiation that proved more complex than first expected. He also flagged Pakistan-origin terrorism as a core Indian concern, warning that if Washington does not fully appreciate it, the relationship will be affected.
WHY IN NEWS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
On September 28, 2026, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made India's first public remarks on the Trump-Xi "G2" summit held in Washington the previous week. He described US-China ties as competitive, set out a de-risking and diversification approach for India, reported near-agreement on the India-US trade deal and linked the health of ties with Washington to US sensitivity on terrorism from Pakistan.
Standard News
A HEDGE WITH A PRICE TAG: WHY JAISHANKAR PUT PAKISTAN AND THE TRADE DEAL IN THE SAME BREATH
Read on its own, "de-risk and diversify" sounds like standard ministerial language. Read alongside the other two things Jaishankar said in New York, it becomes a clear doctrine. India will keep its options open because the US and China are rivals.
It will close the trade deal with Washington. And it will make the depth of that partnership depend on one security issue. The interesting question is not whether India is hedging. It is whether this hedge buys leverage or only ambiguity.
The interest map behind the words Start with what each capital actually wants.
- Washington wants trade concessions and supply-chain partners outside China. Under Trump, though, it also wants to deal directly with Beijing, which is what a "G2" summit signals. It also wants working ties with Pakistan's military for its own regional reasons and those ties became visible again in 2025.
- Beijing wants a steadier relationship with the US and fewer US-led coalitions around it. A direct channel to Washington serves both goals and it reduces the value of countries like India as counterweights.
- New Delhi's worst case is a US-China bargain made over its head. Its second-worst case is having to pick one side in full. Jaishankar's key line, that the two powers face limits on what they can agree for the rest of the world, is really a claim that the worst case is unlikely. If the G2 stays competitive, India's value as a partner survives and so does its room to move. That is why his reading of the summit matters more than his reaction to it. Calling the relationship "competitive" is not a description. It is the premise the whole Indian strategy rests on.
Where the
hedge works and where it does not On economics, the hedge has real content. India can sign a trade understanding with the US while spreading its bets through other agreements, such as the 2025 trade pact with the UK and the EFTA partnership now in force.
Each additional partner lowers what any one of them can extract. Jaishankar's frank admission that the talks were harder than expected also serves a purpose. It tells the domestic audience that India did not simply give way.
On security, the picture is different. The Pakistan line is a warning, not a bargaining chip. India has no lever that forces Washington to change its approach to Pakistan's military leadership. The US can take the trade deal and still keep that channel open.
Here, "diversify" cannot fix the problem, because no alternative partner can replace US pressure on Pakistan. The conditionality is real as a statement of Indian priorities, but thin as leverage.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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Venue of Jaishankar's remarks: Asia Society Policy Institute, New York, after the UN General Assembly session.
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Trigger: the Trump-Xi summit in Washington, described in reporting as a G2 meeting.
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Jaishankar's reading: the US and China may converge on some points but are competitive overall.
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India's stated response: de-risk, diversify, seek new partners and more value from existing partnerships.
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India-US trade deal: described as having reached "more or less an understanding".
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Condition flagged: US appreciation of Pakistan-origin terrorism affects India-US ties.
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De-risking means reducing exposure to any single partner without fully cutting ties, unlike decoupling.
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Strategic autonomy has been a core principle of Indian foreign policy since the Non-Aligned Movement era.
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
A full interest map of Washington, Beijing, Islamabad and New Delhi, including what each cannot be seen doing publicly after the G2 summit
Why a "competitive" rather than "collusive" G2 is the single assumption India's whole hedging strategy depends on and what happens if it fails
The India-Russia oil case study showing that hedging carries a price, including the 2025 US tariff penalty
A short- and long-term plan to turn the Pakistan terror condition from a public warning into actual leverage
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