'Politics Trumps Economics': Did Jaishankar Take A Veiled Dig At US Amid Trade Tensions?

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday emphasised the importance of diversifying supply sources to meet national needs, stating that "politics often trumps economics" in today's uncertain world. Speaking at IIM-Calcutta, he highlighted India's ongoing pursuit of self-reliance and its emergence as a manufacturing hub. Jaishankar was addressing a gathering after being conferred Honorary Doctorate by IIM-Calcutta at its campus."This is an era where politics increasingly trumps economics... and that is not a pun... In an uncertain world, it is all the more important that we continuously diversify supply sources to guarantee our national needs," Jaishankar said. "The United States, long the underwriter of the contemporary system, has set

radically new terms of engagement. It is doing so by dealing with countries on a one-on-one basis," he added.The external affairs minister said that China has "long played by its own rules" and is doing so even now. In the ensuing scenario, other nations are unclear whether attention should be on visible competition or the trade-offs and understandings that punctuate it, he said."Faced with such pulls and pressures of globalisation, of fragmentation and of supply insecurity, the rest of the world responds by hedging against all contingencies," Jaishankar said.India has been making exponential advancements in infrastructure as well as in the latest scientific developments, the EAM asserted. He also noted that a third of global production currently takes place in China and said that this has put the spotlight on the "resilience and reliability" of supply chains."Conflicts and climate events have added to the possibility of that disruption."Jaishankar said India's gap with some of the more successful Asian economies is fast narrowing in terms of infrastructure - highways, railways, aviation, ports, energy and power."We are now moving ahead, by any standards," he said, maintaining that the world is taking note of the advancements being made by India."... With these considerations in mind, we are today endeavouring to forge new trade arrangements and promote fresh connectivity initiatives," the minister added.

'India has people-centric vision in trade': Jaishankar

When it comes to trade, "we will naturally be guided by our people-centric vision, just as our connectivity plans will be by strategic as well as economic considerations," he said.Jaishankar stated that as the government plans for a developed India by 2047, "the goal of foreign policy is to steadily expand our footprint beyond its current confines". He asserted the solidarity that India has built with the Global South creates a basis for doing so.According to the EAM, when it comes to increasing comprehensive national power, India's role in diplomacy is "active rather than passive". "A major power, that too with high aspirations like us, must have a significant industrial base," he said. "Promoting industrial growth and even incentivising it, is today a key economic priority," the minister added, maintaining that emphasis on 'Make in India' in the last one decade speaks of a "different mindset and greater ambition".He said that attention is being paid to advanced technologies and advanced manufacturing so that India does not lag behind."We are now in the world of chips and semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries, drones and space, or that of nanotech and bioscience. Each of them offers opportunity to leapfrog and establish unique capabilities," Jaishankar remarked.(With PTI inputs)