India's stature grown in the last 5 years: EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that a large majority of people in India have recognised that the country's stature in the world has risen in the last five years.
"A large majority of people in India recognised that India's stature in the world has risen in the last five years," Jaishankar said, while addressing a gathering at a seminar in New Delhi.
Jaishankar added a "global rebalancing" was taking place and the "sharpest manifestation" of that is the rise of China and to an extent, the rise of India as well.
The former foreign secretary took part in the event days after taking charge of the ministry, a rare instance of a career diplomat handling the key portfolio as a minister.
He said the government has kept alive and perhaps even strengthened expectation of change in India.
The government looks different from outside than from inside, Jaishankar, who served as foreign secretary from 2015-18, said.
"We can build a closer region through regional connectivity projects," he added.
"If we want to propel economic growth, then there is greater responsibility for Indian foreign policy to focus on external aspect of it," the minister said.
There is big responsibility on the External Affairs Ministry to focus on project execution which has strategic significance, he added.
"Second change I would say is across the world you have had broadly a growth of nationalism and reasons are very complex, that nationalism has been validated electorally in many places. At one level each is different, but somewhere there is a message out there.
"Third which is actually a long-term change is sort of global re-balancing, sharpest manifestation of that is the rise of China, to some extent rise of India as well but overall if you look at it in a 20-year time frame, it's very clear relative weights of global economies are changing," he said.
The External Affairs Minister also spoke about globalisation and its significance as far as India is concerned.
"Globalisation is under stress; many of the assumptions of the globalisation, global supply chains, mobility of talent, market access, all those are no longer assumptions we can make to the same degree, with the same confidence," he said.
(with inputs from agencies
