Challenges in Indo-Pacific could extend to Europe: Jaishankar

New Delhi: Greater power and stronger capabilities should lead to responsibility and restraint and result in economics free of coercion and politics devoid of the threat of use of force, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, spelling out challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

In an address at the EU Ministerial Forum on IndoPacific in Paris, he said the challenges being faced in the region could extend to Europe as "distance is no insulation". Jaishankar said the hosting of the forum at a time when Europe has been grappling with a serious crisis (in Ukraine) reflected the importance the European Union attaches to its engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

"The Indo-Pacific is at the heart of the multipolarity and rebalancing that characterises contemporary changes," he said in the presence of top leadership of the European Union as well as his counterparts from several countries.

Delving into the importance of the Indo-Pacific, the external affairs minister said it is essential that "greater power and stronger capabilities" lead to "responsibility and restraint. "This means, above all, respect for international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty. It means economics free of coercion and politics free from the threat of the use of force," he said.