New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) When India stresses that endless war must give way to an end to war, it is New Delhi’s way of thinking, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, asserting that Indian diplomacy will always have peace and development as its central agenda, not just as an idealistic goal but as a sensible prescription for the world order.
Addressing an event at the Sapru House here, Jaishankar also said that tariff volatility has added to the complications of a corroded international trading system, while cautioning that technology rivalry threatens to fragment the international system even as technology diffusion promises to throw up surprises.
The external affairs minister articulated six points on what Indian diplomacy will perhaps face in the coming times, even as he asserted that “India is destined to rise in a very turbulent world, and the intellectual accompaniments of that process will surely be demanding”.
The event was held to mark 25 years of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) getting the status of ‘institution of national importance’.
“When India advocates dialogue and diplomacy, when we stress that endless war must give way to an end to war, it is our particular way of thinking. Indian diplomacy will always have peace and development as its central agenda. Not just as an idealistic goal, but as a sensible prescription for the world order to advance progress and prosperity,” Jaishankar said. Underlining India’s rise on the global stage, he said, “We count more, we influence more, but we also have greater responsibility.” The minister also said that there is definitely a “more people-centric foreign policy today”.
His comments assume significance as they come a day after India hosted the BRICS Summit here on September 12-13.
Jaishankar also underlined that statecraft may be an exercise in calculation, but sentiment still has a very powerful role in international relations, adding that culture, history and experience remain factors of bonding between nations or otherwise.
Also, a multi-millennia civilisation regaining its place on the global stage is an “unusual occurrence”, he said.
As India’s rise unfolds, it will be an “understandable subject of discussion and possibly even of misreading from time to time”, he said.
Comparing India with the record of others is “simplistic to say the least”, Jaishankar said, without elaborating.
“India will have its own character traits. It will have its own personality, and one that the world will come to appreciate. But, it is up to us to communicate, to explain and to facilitate that process.
“A civilisational state will naturally take the long view. Our approach to international relations, to international issues will be considered, will be sober and will be composed,” the minister said.
Discussions within India will debate the degree of “our manoeuvrability, flexibility and creativity”, but no one really believes that there is an alternative to strategic autonomy, he said.
“As a result, we are naturally designed for the multipolar world that awaits us all. Indeed, you would perceive that India’s answer to the culture of extreme competition is to double down on multipolarity.
“Now these perspectives need to be set off against a radically transformed global landscape today. One that is becoming more turbulent and uncertain by the day,” he added.
Besides, a third of the world’s manufacturing being concentrated in “a single geography has major consequences”, Jaishankar said.
Those who are witnessing an “erosion in their primacy no longer believe in the rules that they themselves set”, he said.
Ensuring the resilience of supply chains and mitigating the effect of market dominance have therefore become key priorities, he added.
The minister also said the rise of big tech is an “all together new and different phenomenon”, even as he cautioned that “tech rivalry threatens to fragment the international system even as tech diffusion promises to throw up surprises”.
“Revival of nuclear energy could also bring back its accompanying security debate. The world of finance has also got deeply enmeshed with strategic choices. Its weaponisation is forcing creative responses.
“Connectivity is another major variable in this larger matrix, along with resources. It has assumed the form of a new great game,” the minister said, without elaborating.
“In fact, the net impact of all these factors has made choke points a compelling feature of contemporary international affairs. This is truly a world of leverage, of weaponisation, and of risk-taking,” he said.
A nation like India can deal with such a scenario through ways to “de-risk and diversify”, he added.
“We have seen that starkly in the domain of energy, and more gradually, when it comes to markets and supply chains. There is also the prospect of becoming more self-reliant, and that is why ‘Make in India’ is so critical to our strategic autonomy.
“But then, there are also the concepts of trusted partners, tested pathways… These need to be built assiduously and painstakingly. Indeed, that is the very work that is under progress,” the minister said.
Jaishankar added that as the world goes through its current convulsions, the results may well end up creating a very different architecture.
“And because we are staring at an uncharted path, there is a powerful case for deeper debate and discussion,” he said. PTI KND ARI
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