EXC: Pakistan in crisis, India can offer them charity: Nobel committee leader Toje

| Updated: 16 March, 2023 4:40 pm IST

Toje hails PM Modi's efforts to resolve conflicts in distant countries.

India can redefine its relationship with Pakistan that is going through a major economic crisis, said Deputy Leader of Nobel Committee Asle Toje in a conversation with The New Indian.

“As per Indian philosophy we rise together and we sink together. And even if you have a neighbour that you don’t like very much, sometimes a new relationship can be built on the principle of charity and goodwill. I think Pakistan will be there regardless of what happens..” he said.

Calling China and India the undoubted superpowers of this century he said that he is hopeful the two countries will find a way to play “nicely”.

He also cautioned that India should not follow into the footsteps of other superpowers like the British Raj or the United States of America. “We have seen empires rise and fall. We have seen the Raj. We have seen America. Now, we see the contours of a new world and most will agree that China and India are the great superpowers of this century and it’s very important that India doesn’t lose itself. And it is very important that India doesn’t lose itself in this struggle and become a carbon copy of America or China,” he said.

Dr Asle Toje was present in National Capital at Round Table Discussion on Alternative Development Model and Peach organised by India Center Foundation.

He also hailed PM Modi’s positive intervention in the Russia-Ukraine war. “”When PM Modi told the Russian president that if you use nuclear weapons this will have an impact on India’s relationship may not be a very strong statement. But powerful countries don’t have to shout,” he said.

Asle Toje is a foreign policy scholar and member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. He made the remarks while he was on his India tour.