India Must Build Deep National Strengths To Be Leading Power: S Jaishankar

New Delhi::

India must build “deep national strengths” for its transition towards a leading power and the country’s goals and ambitions cannot be determined by the goodwill of others, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

In a virtual address at the Asia Economic Dialogue held in Pune, he said the vision of the Narendra Modi government and its programmes over the last decade are aimed at building national strength.

“As the most populous country that will be third largest economy by the end of the decade, our goals and ambitions cannot be determined by the goodwill of others,” Mr Jaishankar said.

“We must build deep national strengths during the ‘Amrit Kaal’ that will drive the transition towards a developed economy and a leading power,” he said.

“This is the vision of the Modi Government and our initiatives and programmes of the last decade are aimed at this end,” he added.

The minister also delved into various geopolitical challenges facing the globe.

“One is the supply-chain challenge that arises from a particular economic hardwiring created by the globalization era. Whether it is finished products, intermediates or components, the world is dangerously dependent on a limited number of suppliers,” he said.

“How to introduce greater resilience and reliability is today central to de-risking the global economy. All of us need more options and must work to create them,” he said.

The second challenge Jaishankar identified as that of technology.

“The digital era has given it an altogether different connotation because it is so intrusive. It is not just our interests that are at stake but often the most personal of our decisions and choices,” he said.

“Such an era demands more trust and transparency. But in fact, we are seeing the reverse where technology providers are concerned,” he noted.

The minister also talked about “unpredictability and opaqueness” while referring to globalisation.

“The third is the challenge of over-concentrations stemming from the nature of globalisation. They are heightened by unpredictability and opaqueness. We discovered this most sharply during the Covid period,” he said.

“But from time to time, we are also reminded when market dominance is weaponised. For the Global South, this is particularly serious given the extent of dependence,” he added.

Mr Jaishankar said these three phenomena come together particularly impactfully in terms of evolution of critical and emerging technologies.

“To create a more safe, secure and cooperative world, we clearly need greater international cooperation. Only that can serve to mitigate unilateral demands, economic domination or technology assertions,” he said.

“For India, this means moving across a broad front of domains that all contribute to comprehensive national power. It requires a massive upgrade of our skills base,” he noted.

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