Politics, rivalries are a challenge to globalisation, says EAM Jaishankar

EAM Jaishankar India cannot have economic growth, without deep strengths and without commensurate employment growth and the primary focus should be on the domestic supply chain.

New Delhi: The global community is confronting "a very different world politically", under which various notions about globalisation are being challenged and has kicked off a new debate, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said here.

The mantras of globalisation suggested virtues of it were so self-evident that we were supposed to keep everything else in abeyance. But the reality is different, he said in an interaction at the Global Technology Summit.

"I think this is really the big debate which has unfolded, you can say in a way due to a set of actions-reactions kind of situation. So we are confronting today a very different world, politically," he said.

"The great gurus pretend almost as if politics doesn't exist. We are all the same. Nobody has an agenda. We are only there for greater global economic activity. Now, reality has come back to bite all of them," the Minister said.

He maintained, "All these things are very much a reality despite economic globalisation. So to me, the orthodox international relations with national competition, some people would argue even systemic competition has come into conflict with the mantras of globalisation."

Answering questions on the tech potentials of a city like Bengaluru in the Indian context, he said Bengaluru is also Space Centre, industrial centre, a research centre, with many vital labs in the city. 

"So, it was not that it was disconnected from the government, it was just, it had its own domain or its own set of specialisation. So, I would say yes, each one has their strength, and each one has their own international standing." But, he argued, "New Delhi plus Bengaluru is bigger than their aggregate and that gives one a very different sort of image outside in the world." 

Replying to a strategic expert, C Rajamohan, Dr Jaishankar said the new challenge to the global community 'is very much more of technology and economies becoming very interpenetrating and interdependent."

"So this whole issue of trusted technologies, is it trusted, is it transparent, is it reliable, is it resilient? So, I think we moved now into a very different phase, especially in the last two, three years. I think earlier arguments are behind us, they are suddenly less and less relevant with the passage of time," he said. 

To another question, he said, "People talk about supply chains. I would say, first, look at your domestic supply chain. That should be your first responsibility. So we need to continuously strengthen our domestic supply chain."

"We cannot have economic growth, without deep strengths and without commensurate employment growth." He said jobless growth is not growth for a country like India.

"So I do believe very much that the focus should be about strengthening – it starts with education at a basic level, it goes on to skills, to talent, to start-up, to creating greater employment," Dr Jaishankar said.