India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has said that India has been a victim of "unfair competition" in a globalized era, but New Delhi has been strong enough to call it out.
"For us a challenge both at home and abroad, is really the protection from unfair competition. That 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 because for too long this country (India) has put up with unfair competition in the name of there's a globalization era," India's top diplomat said during his address at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Jaishankar then shared his vision for how India could contribute to the international order in a globalised world and at the same time not compromise on its development goals.
"If competition is unfair, we must have the ability to call it out and finally, how do we help with the globalization of India because the world is globalising. 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 (Developed India). It is actually also growing in the world as a Viksit Bharat," the minister elaborated.
Jaishankar also underlined that India's image and position have changed in the past 15 years, and New Delhi's voice now carries far more weight than before on the world stage.
"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 researcher 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," he explained.
Jaishankar on India's Crude Imports From Russia
The EAM once again defended New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, asserting that the decision to import crude from Moscow was in India's national interest..
"Diplomacy, international relations, good ties, friendship are not about giving other people a say in your choice. Our choice must be our choice, however difficult it is. I am not a rash person, I would say. We need to calculate, we need to strategize, sometimes we need to soften at times. That is something which my business also does," Jaishankar opined.
"But at the end of the day, there will be moments. You all know, we've had one or two of these recently, that when it came to our energy purchases, our national choices and national interest were supposed to be subservient to the political correctness of other countries, who, by the way, had made their own arrangements to soften the blow for themselves," he asserted.