External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in his signature style, has again lambasted the West and Europe for placing India in an "unfair competition world" where New Delhi was deliberately kept at a distance, especially at a time when globalisation was a dynamic phenomenon for the whole world.
While addressing an event in New Delhi, he said, "Both at home and abroad, the challenge is really the protection from unfair competition. How do we, you know, how do we get the data, how do we build the understanding, how do we make sure that feeds into policies, how then do we build our defences, and how do we take action against unfair competition?"
The Minister stressed that India has been put in an unfair competition and added New Delhi was told, "Aisa hi hota hai (This is the way), we have to live it".
"India must have the ability to call it out": Jaishankar on unfair competition
"Because for too long, this country has put up with unfair competition in the name of, you know, there's a globalisation era, aisa hi hota hain, we have to live it. We don't have to live it. If competition is unfair, we must have the ability to call it out," he said during the valedictory session of FICCI’s 96th Annual General Meeting and Annual Convention.
According to Jaishankar, every measurable index is currently in favour of India and added "25 years is not just about growing in India as a Viksit Bharat, it is actually also growing in the world as a Viksit Bharat". "How do we help with the globalization of India? Because the world is globalizing. History is on our side. Every measurable index is working in our favour. In that 25 years. That 25 years is not just about growing in India as a Viksit Bharat, it is actually also growing in the world as a Viksit Bharat," he said.
"So having said that, let me conclude on a motivational note. I would say, perhaps about 15 years ago, we used to be called the back office of the world. Today, we are called the pharmacy of the world. We are called the designer of the world. We are called the researchers of the world. We are called the producer of the world. We are called the digital, in a sense, the digital pioneer, if you would. When we speak about our achievements, you know, it is something real, contemporary, impactful for the rest of the world. I take the conversation on subjects like vaccine, the medicines we've provided, the 5G stack that we are rolling out, the UPI payments which dwarf every other competitive source out there, the Tejas that the Prime Minister has just flown in," he stressed.
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